


The Morenatsu Jojo Crossover You Definitely Wanted No Threats Involved

by iridescentWordforger



Category: Morenatsu
Genre: Gen, but it gave me kyo second and i was like hey that rhymes with ryo so now that's her name, expect me to not finish this lmao, i can't write action though so it's whatever, i have no confidence in myself this time around, literally no action has happened so far rip, random name generator gave me tsubame first and i was like nah
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2016-12-11
Packaged: 2018-08-28 08:53:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 32
Words: 68,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8439286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iridescentWordforger/pseuds/iridescentWordforger
Summary: the title is pretty self explanatory. I gave the Morenatsu characters stands. Firstly, the Kodori family of course. The Joestars of this world I guess. I also gave Iwao a (at least I think there are multiple?) magic arrow thing. You don't need to be familiar with Jojo's Bizarre Adventure to understand this, though, I just took the mechanics of stands from it





	1. Iwao's Plan

"Now Shun," his grandfather's voice was even more unsettling in the dark, "we know you love Gaku, we know you're friends with him, and I'm sorry to tell you this," he paused, "or I would be, if it weren't necessary. You have a habit or ruining everything you touch, you know." Shun could tell Iwao was looking at him, that contemptuous look that haunted him. He was somewhere nearby in the darkness, staring at him. "So you better not mess this up. Don't let your feelings get in the way of your mission." Something began trickling, water running about him. trickling. "You usually go over to where Gaku works to play video games, correct? Sometime even have tea there?" He didn't let Shun respond. "Well I can't just sneak up on him in the night or anything, not with the security system he's invested in. I know my stand is very powerful, but I wish to be a peaceful man, you must understand. I am the sole pillar of Minasato tradition and don't you forget that. No one should forget that." He paused. "And Gaku, that filth, challenges that tradition. Surely we can't allow him to prosper." The water grew louder, and Shun could already tell it was changing shape, even if he couldn't see very well. He knew what was happening before it happened; he had seen all of this before. He had seen its eyes flash to life upon completion. "Shun," Iwao spoke solemnly and sternly, "do you swear to uphold Kodori tradition?"

Shun wanted to shake his head no, but what if Iwao could see like this. He was used to this dim light, wasn't he? He was always like this, hiding out in dark places like a creep.

"Do you swear to uphold Kodori tradition?" Iwao repeated, more forcefully this time. Suddenly the room was bathed in a dim watery light. There were puddles all over the floor, water trickling from Iwao. His body seemed to become painfully thin and withered, but he could restore himself easily. His stand was stronger the more attached to himself it was. If it was constituted of the water in Iwao's blood, it would be the strongest. This was how he could hide fire inside of it magically, creating its eyes. Iwao's stand took the form of a dragon, with flaming eyes, comprised of water. Iwao could control it near freely and its power was immense. Imagine Dragons was a sight to behold each time, and Iwao always carefully crafted the circumstances in which one would see it. He was a tyrant, it seemed.

"I swear to uphold Kodori tradition." Shun spoke softly.

"Gaku is tearing apart that tradition."

Shun didn't know whether to repeat that or not, so he didn't. But he felt the judgement of Imagine Dragons. It was staring him down. A few tense seconds passed. The sound of trickling water still echoed across the walls. Iwao looked unreal, standing there on stick legs, flesh condensed and wrapped around the bones, all the moisture drained out to fuel his stand. Imagine Dragons was also incredibly undense most of the time because the water in Iwao's body was not enough to form a dragon shape alone.

"Do you swear you will cooperate with us and relinquish Gaku's meddlement in our affairs?" Iwao asked solemnly. He was staring blankly at Shun, awaiting nothing but a yes response. This whole deal was about Shun, too. If it hadn't been for him, Gaku could have disappeared peacefully, but he wanted to maintain contact with his cousin and friend. How selfish. Shun cursed himself.

But without a second thought, he knew what he had to agree too. Would he follow it? Likely not. If there was any method to circumvent any terrible transpiration that could unfold, Shun would undoubtedly take it. But now, right now, he was scared. He was being stared down by his tyrant of a grandfather and his grandfather's tyrannous stand that held immense power. Right now, he had no choice but to cooperate, or at least pretend to cooperate. So he nodded, albeit nervously. He could feel sweat dripping from himself. "I swear."

"Swear what?" Iwao raised an eyebrow threateningly. "Repeat back to me what I said, you toad. Tell me what I said. Were you even listening at all?" His disappointment wasn't nearly as scary as his probably imminent rage. Iwao never yelled, but he always hit. His stand had enough power to hit and hurt.

Shun tried to recount his exact words. "I swear I will cooperate and stop- I will cooperate with you and relinquish Gaku's meddlement in our affairs." He spoke. He had to at least pretend to be sure of himself if he wanted to avoid Imagine Dragons. It could suffocate him easily. Surely Iwao would never kill him, but anything short of that was well possible. Hopefully the old man had no idea what he himself said either, because Shun was almost certain he was off in at least some regard. He thought he said everything right, but maybe he didn't...

Iwao accepted it. He sagely nodded his head; he knew Shun would agree to this. Even if he adored Gaku like a fool, he could not resist the power of Imagine Dragons. The room gradually began to dim as he called his stand back to himself. Force would no longer be necessary, it seemed. Shun had agreed, so he no longer needed the threats to convince him. The sound of trickling water could still be heard, and it was speeding up, more water dripping more quickly, but now it was dripping upward, back into Iwao's body. The flames in Imagine Dragons's eyes were put out as the water was called back. Iwao's body gradually began to expand to normal shape again as it absorbed the water, cleanly and consistently throughout his body; he had honed his stand powers well. Over many years of practice in the Kodori tradition he had grown in to have one of the most powerful stands in the entire Kodori lineage. Only Gaku could really match it, though not because of any practice on his part. "Very well." Iwao muttered. He shifted uncomfortably where he was, waiting for his body to fully absorb the stand again. The more slowly he called it back, the less power it lost and the more efficient his bodily functions became.

Shun stood there awkwardly for a moment, suspense building in his heart as he waited for the command to be dismissed. At the moment, he felt as if he would give anything to be out of that room. Imagine Dragons had disappeared back into its host, but the danger was not gone. Shun still needed to hear the plan that Iwao meant Shun to be a critical tool of, no matter how little Shun wished to hear that plan. Shun's tiny heart was racing. He felt sick, almost. But if he could just bare this for a little longer, he could find Kouya, and Kouya could think a way out of this, to make the plan go wrong and it not look like Shun's fault. Kouya could always think of thinks like that, couldn't he? Shun just kept that image in his mind - Kouya helping - He could bare this until then.

"Your mission," Iwao said, Imagine Dragons fully within him now, "is to poison your own tea." Shun inhaled sharply. "Now, now." Iwao glared at him, as if telling him to shut up. "You won't die, it's not bad poison. You'll just get food poisoning. I do not wish to kill Gaku, because that would be too extreme. And crimes such as murder, if you can even call it murder when the one being killed is scum like that, crimes like that can be traced back to me. We can't risk that." Shun couldn't tell because of the darkness, but he knew Iwao was staring directly at his horrified expression. "How can Kodori tradition be upheld if there's no head Kodori to uphold it? The power could be passed to Ryo, or even Ten if Ryo isn't Kodori enough, but it's not time for that yet. I've got to maintain this position, hear me? The Kodori lineage would fall apart without me. Of all people, I the least need to be placed in jail. My freedom must be maintained at all costs, even if it means poisoning my sweet grandson." Iwao was now definitely smirking in the darkness. His expression was still obscured, but Shun knew he was smiling, in a display of false confidence, like he was the man impossible to put in jail. "Now, Shun, you must poison yourself to frame Gaku. Gaku won't be dead if you are poisoned, he won't even develop food poisoning like you, but he will be suspected of poisoning a child. Logically, who else would have done it? From the perspective of the police, or really just about anyone observing such a situation, who else would have done it? There was no one else there, and to the outside observer, what fortune could I hope to gain by poisoning you? No, I would not even be suspected." Iwao sighed. "And then Gaku is locked up, away from important Kodori affairs for a good thirty years. And by then I'll be dead and someone else can deal with that brat, if he even still wants to meddle. I imagine jail time does a person like that good. You know, people who need to be taught a lesson like him."

Shun wanted to interject. Even if this was "only" food poisoning and not fatal poisoning, he certainly didn't want to be poisoned. And have it blamed on Gaku? How vile. He wanted to ask questions, but he was worried of Iwao's wrath. Imagine Dragons was no longer present in the room, leaving the spacious darkness, but Iwao could still physically hurt him. Perhaps Iwao had called back his stand so that Shun would not feel as threatened, and therefore wish to ask questions. But no, that didn't really make much sense from Gaku's perspective, did it?

"The poison is herbal, it's already been collected." Iwao explained. Don't carry it in your pocket, because when they search your clothes, they might find traces of it there. Instead, keep it in a plastic bag. It's just leaves, it won't be hard to fit in there. And wash your hands after you put it in the bag. And wash the exterior of the bag." Iwao thought for a moment. "Actually, I can do that for you."

"And when I get to Gaku's?" Shun asked. He could feel the fear in his voice, but he didn't stammer any. That was good. He didn't want to stammer any.

"Set it on the counter of the bathroom or something." Iwao advised. "Keep it discreet. And then slip it in your tea leaves. It's leaves, so it blends in. They look similar too." He thought for a moment. "Most of the rest will be split minute decision making, but Shun I trust you. You have sworn your faith in me and the Kodori lineage, have you not?"

Shun shivered.

"Have you not sworn your faith in me and the Kodori lineage?" Iwao questioned again. "If you have not, there is no reason you are unlike Gaku, and I suppose I can already see his presence growing within you. He's corrupting you, isn't he? Please, Shun, tell me he isn't. You have complete trust in me, don't you?" He was glaring. "Shun, you trust me." It was a command, not a question. Shun had no choice.

"Y-yes." He said. "I trust you."

Iwao was pleased, at least for that moment. "Good. Then you promise to go through with this plan, even if it means poisoning yourself?" He waited expectantly for Shun's nervous answer.

But Shun's voice wasn't as shaky this time. "Yes." He stated.

"Your stand," Iwao went on, "Cuty, it has the power to preserve the thoughts of anyone, keeping them still to one moment in time. I want you to use your stand in this encounter. I do not wish to mess with the criminal record."

"Yes."

"But Gaku will know something suspicious happened, but it will be impossible to pinpoint exactly what. He can claim all he wants that he did not poison you, but it matters not what he says. There are cameras in his apartment, but they can be altered with your stand. Use it for nothing else, and above all do not let Gaku see, but hold these cameras at the moment in time before you and Gaku sit down. It will look even more suspicious that way, then."

"Yes." Shun could feel chills going down his spine. He had all these things he must do to incriminate his cousin and friend. He couldn't do this. He couldn't do this. He had to think of some way around, and let Gaku free but still not make it look like it was his fault. He needed to make everything seem to go according to Iwao's plan while simultaneously not, hopefully doing the exact opposite. He didn't wish to incriminate Iwao either, but best case scenario Iwao would be mad at his own apparent shortcoming and not blame the whole scenario on Shun.

"Yes."

"You go to Gaku's apartment two days from now." Iwao directed. "Don't forget anything I have said. And don't screw anything up. You have two days to memorize all that, there should be no faults in my plan, at least none that I can identify. If you encounter any, thinking over it, please tell me, but I highly doubt you will. I've thought of everything." Iwao was smirking now. "Got it?"

"Yes." 

"Alright, I believe that covers it." Iwao began to walk out of the room. "Go work on chores, do homework, be productive for once. You can't sit around all day playing your damn video games." He turned around. "And if you have any questions, come see me. Remember, Shun, never be afraid to sacrifice yourself. This isn't even a big sacrifice, just your health for a few days. You can do it." As he exited, he smiled back at Shun, like all this was some sort of good thing. "I believe in you."

Shun just stood there for a while, unsure exactly what to do. He wanted to withdraw his stand and go back a few minutes to when he didn't know all this, but it only held the present moment, and besides, he couldn't use Cuty on himself. What he needed to do now was find Kouya and fast. Hopefully Kouya could think of a way out of this. Gaku had to be saved somehow; the matter just needed a little thinking was all. That's what he tried to tell himself. Gaku did nothing wrong, right?


	2. Kouya Offers Assistance

"You have a problem, you say?" Kouya looked up from his guitar, to look Shun in the eye. "What kind of problem exactly? Just let me know and I can help."

Shun normally would never stoop so low as to ask for help from someone else, especially Kouya, who treated him almost as if Shun were his own child, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He had run the situation over in his head several times, but he just couldn't think of a solution that would both disincriminate Gaku and himself. He essentially had to choose between the two, it seemed. Anything he did could be traced back to him by Iwao and anything he didn't do would lead to Gaku's wrongful arrest. And prison must be awful; Shun would never wish that upon Gaku, who hadn't committed any crimes even.

But he hated troubling his friend like this. If Shun couldn't think of a way out, surely Kouya couldn't either, right? And anything Kouya did could be traced back to Shun, even if it couldn't be traced back to Kouya. If anything happened to Gaku, it would be all too reasonable for Iwao to assume that Shun had some part in it. If Shun hadn't had any part, then why would anything happen to Gaku? He was a fairly normal if not creepy citizen, and had no reason to be kidnapped or robbed or anything. Well, he could be robbed, Shun supposed, and Cuty could suspend the cameras to the moment before he was on them, so that nothing could be seen until after they were no longer suspended, when Shun had left. And if he robbed Gaku he really only needed to take the cameras so that didn't matter. Taking the cameras wouldn't even do anything, in fact, it would probably hinder Gaku even further, because they wouldn't be there to record Shun's poisoning. And kidnapping a grown man was probably very difficult.

Maybe Gaku could fake a vacation, and the message to do so delivered by Kouya or Soutarou, Shun supposed, but no. Gaku works for minimum wage at a game store. He isn't nearly able to afford a vacation, or any time off to visit a friend or someone like that. The only family he had disowned him, except for Shun, who, Iwao and every other Kodori agreed, he was all too comfy with. No matter how hard Shun thought, he couldn't think of any way around it. Something that couldn't be traced back to him? Was there anything?

Gaku's stand, Army, had the power to make things come apart (in pretty much the reverse of The Hand), but that couldn't really be useful. If Gaku used his Stand to do something, then Iwao would know Shun alerted him somehow. Unless... it was worst case scenario, but Army could easily allow Gaku to evade authorities, at least for a little while. He mentally decided it wouldn't come to that. It wouldn't possibly come to that. But.. but he could think of something.

"What's your problem?" Kouya asked again, softly, so that it didn't sound like the rude 'what's your problem' that was an insult. He was genuinely concerned. Because Shun seemed genuinely concerned about whatever the problem was. And Kouya cared about his concern. It was concerning enough for Kouya to be concerned too.

But Shun couldn't let him be concerned. He was sure of it, now, he didn't want to concern Kouya, to trouble him with serious business like this. The situation was dire to Gaku, but Shun would figure all of it out. He was sure of it suddenly, or at the very least sure enough. He would find a solution, for Gaku's sake, and also his own sake. Gaku wouldn't be arrested and he wouldn't be beaten or disowned or anything even more severe. He was sure of it, that's what he told himself, it will all be fine. The smile came almost naturally after that. There was nothing to worry about, nothing that couldn't be fixed. "I forgot." He said.

"You forgot your problem?" Kouya sounded skeptical. He kept his eye on Shun. "It seemed pretty serious just a moment ago."

So he would have to think of a serious sounding problem that could be resolved quickly. That wouldn't be too hard, he supposed. "Well..." he muttered, "to tell you the truth, I didn't want to worry you, you know since you're so nice to me and all, but I need help with something." He left it there for now.

"Help with what?" Kouya inquired. He set his guitar to the side of him, turning his full attention to Shun. They sat now in the park-ish area of Minasato, on a slightly wooded hill, where he and Kouya would go sometimes for Kouya to play music and him to listen. He had come here hoping to find Kouya, and luckily, he had been here. No lengthy search required.

"Well," Shun searched his mind for a story. Hopefully it would be convincing, probably not. But with all luck it would end in a song. "I.. It's my Dad's birthday in a little while, and I thought it would be nice if I could play Happy Birthday for him. On your guitar. If you could teach me." He paused a moment, letting Kouya break out a smile. "It's not too much of a problem, but you'll teach me, won't you?"

"Oh of course I will." Kouya said, pulling his guitar back into his lap. But he quickly set it to his side again. "I don't really have a choice now do I? Not when it's you. Now sit down." He patted the spot to the left of him, the opposite side of where his guitar lay.

Shun, of course, was obliged. He eagerly took his seat. And Kouya eagerly took his guitar from beside him and placed it in Shun's lap instead of his own. "Now let me see..." He started. He hummed the tune under his breath for a moment, his face all too close to Shun's, it felt. He awkwardly retracted his head back. "Now that starts on a G, I think. You can't play a G, can you?" 

Shun shook his head. "I don't know anything at all." He nervously confessed. He shortly corrected himself, however. "Well that's not true." He said. "You've taught me some other things, other times, but it was always really simple stuff, and I hardly remember any of it." He chuckled slightly. "So you'll need to show me again I guess."

"That's quite alright." Kouya assured him. "Here, just move that finger here..." He guided Shun's fingers to the correct locations, trying not to let them touch for longer than was necessary. As soon as Shun's fingers were all in the right place, he commanded. "Strum. Three times, I think." Shun did so, the guitar mimicking the words "Happy Birth" without any words. "No, four times." Kouya corrected himself. "Happy Birthday." He smiled at Shun's success, his own success.

"Did I do it right?" Shun asked. He could see Kouya's pleased expression, so he already knew he did everything right, but it still didn't sound right really. Something was off about it, the phrase was too monotone, all on the same pitch. The "Birth" syllable should be elevated.

"Yeah." Kouya nodded. "But I messed up, I think. The Birth part of the Birthday. That third beat should be A, not G. It's a note higher. So let me show you the fingering for that one, too." He repositioned Shun's fingers so that they played the right chord for that syllable, and then, being dissatisfied, changed them again. "Sorry." He said. "I just don't think that was right. Strum it once."

Shun did so, and Kouya nodded. "Okay that's right. Do you remember the first chord? The G?"

He shook his head slowly. "Sorry, I kind of forgot it." He said.

"No, no it's fine." He assured him. "Let me show you again, and don't forget it this time." Kouya made sure to keep his tone gentle. He felt gentle right now; he didn't want to come off as intimidating, especially not towards Shun. Some the things he said had a hostile edge to them just naturally, but Kouya wasn't a hostile person. Just his choice of words sometimes. He positioned Shun's fingers to the first chord again. "That's this one." He told him. "Kinda memorize what that feels like, okay? Remember where your fingers are."

Shun concentrated on his fingers. He was sure he knew what they felt like, and he carefully concentrated on his fingers' placements. When he was sure he memorized it, he nodded. "I'm ready for the next one again."

"Okay." Kouya led his fingers to the correct spots for the next chord. "Now memorize where they are in this one. Actually first, strum once, to make sure this is the right one." Shun strummed once, and Kouya nodded slightly in approval. "Okay, cool, cool. Now memorize exactly where your fingers are in this one too. And still keep the previous chord in mind, you can't lose that."

Shun concentrated on his fingers once more, making sure to take all details into account. Where they were in position to each other, and position to the guitar, how it felt. It really didn't feel very different from the last one, but the placing on the guitar was kind of different, and so were his fingers position in relation to each other, so they were two different chords. Of course they were, they sounded different. But now he couldn't remember how to play the first chord. If he were the type of person that allowed himself to curse, he definitely would have. And now Kouya would have to show him the G chord a third time. It wasn't like he minded all that much, it was just guitar chords and not something important like Gaku's freedom, but he didn't want to waste Kouya's time more than he already was. At least he wasn't wasting Kouya's time with something so worrying, he conceded. That would be even worse. As stressful as it was, he was glad he kept the ordeal with Gaku to himself. There was a bright side to everything, wasn't there? Good things happening, good things happening, Gaku would be okay, he told himself. He'd find a solution.

"Hey.." Kouya looked at Shun with that expression of worry. "Is everything alright?" He shifted uncomfortably where he sat. "You had that same look when you first came to me. If your Dad really expecting this? Because if he's not there's no reason you should feel pressured to learn this all so quickly. I mean, I can teach you if you need, of course, but.. it might not be worth the effort. Right now, anyway." Shun didn't respond immediately. "Am I creepy?" Kouya asked.

"I just forgot the fingering for the first one is all." Shun smiled, like it was nothing. "Sorry, I just didn't want to make you have to teach me again, a third time. That would be really inconvenient for you haha."

"Not really!" Kouya responded. "Not at all, in fact. I don't mind. It's nothing."

"That's good then." Shun chuckled. "Because I'm pretty sure I just forgot the second one too." His fingers had subconsciously fallen off the guitar when he had been worrying about Gaku.

"Here, let me show you...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gaku's stand, Army, is from this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1R64-ZWVoM  
> Shun's is from the song 'Cuty' in the Morenatsu soundtrack, which is obviously supposed to be 'Cutie' but whatever it's presumably pronounced the same.  
> Obviously Iwao's is the band Imagine Dragons.  
> And I still actually haven't thought of a stand for Ten yet rip me
> 
> also sorry this whole thing is kinda lame and there probably won't be much continuation so don't expect much lmao


	3. Shun Finds Money on the Ground

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please be aware I legitimately have no idea of future plot events at all I'm just kinda writing. I wanted to participate in NaNoWriMo and here I am

"Are you okay?" Soutarou asked. The two of them, Soutarou and Shun, had gone to the candy store that morning. It wasn't really planned, Shun was just kind of running around aimlessly looking for something to do and thinking of ways to save Gaku from inevitable prison. He had been kicked out of the house that morning because kids like him needed to play outside, like all the other children and what not, even though he was sixteen now. Did he really act like a little kid? And Soutarou had nothing better to do than to walk around aimlessly. His mother had gone to some sort of chore and he didn't like the idea of being alone and being stuck reading the same book for the millionth time, so he was just searching around town for something to do. The two happened to encounter each other, and neither having any money, decided to take a hike or something, but Shun found a 1000 yen note on the ground and they decided to partake in worldly pleasures instead, like candy.

Shun had made it out to be a happy occasion, their entire coincidental meeting and all, but he couldn't hide the fact that something was worrying him. So Soutarou asked "are you okay?"

"Yeah." Shun instinctively said. "Why?" Hopefully it wasn't too obvious. He didn't want to worry Soutarou with something so dangerous like this. And Soutarou was the type of person to really try and concern himself with the wellbeing of others. This was definitely the kind of affair he would become concerned with, someone's safety. He wouldn't let himself sleep until he had helped Gaku and therefore Shun. So Shun wouldn't burden him with that.

"You just seem kinda down 'z all." Soutarou explained. "You look kinda worried 'bout somethin'. Like you're thinkin' 'bout somethin'."

"It's nothing you should worry about." Shun said. He knew that Soutarou probably wouldn't drop it, so he decided he'd go with the same story he told Kouya. He needed to be able to play "Happy Birthday" on guitar for his father's birthday. Consistency in lies made them look like truths, he had learned after growing up in the Kodori household. And luckily, it wasn't a problem that Soutarou could help with at all. Soutarou didn't know how to play anything on guitar. He would probably try and support Shun in learning guitar, but he couldn't actively assist him in any way, leading him to be able to drop the subject more easily.

"Well..." Soutarou paused for a moment. He stopped walking at stood still. "Just let me know if I can help." He strived to be the person people can rely on. The person who is kind, smart, athletic, and all that, but mostly the person who is willing to help. He wouldn't mind being busy, as long as he could be of service. And right now, Shun was in need of help, or at least it seemed like that. He was definitely distressed by something.

Shun stood still also. "To tell you the truth," It wasn't the truth. "My father's birthday is coming up. And I told him I'd be able to play Happy Birthday on the guitar for him. I thought Kouya could teach me, and he has been, but I can't remember how to do any of it. I forgot everything he taught me." That part was true. Though Kouya and Shun had practice together for a solid hour or two last evening before the sun set, he couldn't retain any of the information. He wondered if he would just say he remembered everything and played it for his father, or whether he'd admit to forgetting it to Kouya. Reasonably, it was probably better to pretend like he had played it. But no, he would need to have borrowed Kouya's guitar to have played it, and he didn't do that. So he absolutely had to choose the other option, that was far more appealing anyway, for some reason. He would have to admit to Kouya that he forgot everything and ask Kouya to teach him again.

"Geez, when is it?" Soutarou asked. When Shun blinked in confusion, he asked again. "Your Dad's birthday, I mean. What day does you learnin' that needa happen by?"

"Oh, uh." Shun thought for a moment, though he couldn't take too long because that would be kind of suspicious. It was best it would happen on the days he'd be sick, or the day he went to Gaku's, which would be... tomorrow. Yikes. "It's two days from now." he said. "The ninth of August."

"That's pretty close." Soutarou mused. "Darn, I wish I could help you, but I don't know anything about guitar. I hope Kouya can help you with that more." He started walking again, somehow not satisfied with Shun's answer still. There was something wrong about it, but he couldn't place exactly what.

"Yeah, me too." Shun sighed, following Soutarou to the candy shop. "I have two days though, so it's really no worry. If I just keep up with going to Kouya for lessons today, probably for a little longer, I should get it down. I got it down last time, too, I just forgot it."

"Ah, okay." Soutarou nodded in understanding. He had picked up that phrase from Kyouji, who said it quite frequently. It was his response whenever someone asked for his assistance, pretty much. "That's probably kinda frustrating."

"Yeah." He agreed. There was silence for a short moment before he picked up conversation again. Something more lighthearted this time, far more lighthearted. It was still only morning, he had plenty of time to think of a plan to get Gaku not arrested. And besides, he wouldn't burden Soutarou with all that. He had no need. Soutarou didn't even know about stands; he thought the whole dragon thing was fake or just a folktale, like most people did. Telling him what was going on would both shake his worldview and involve him, albeit unintentionally, in a dangerous world he had no need to be a part of, worrying him too much and concerning him with affairs he really did not need to be concerned with. "So, what kind of candy are you getting?" Shun asked.

"I dunno." Soutarou admitted. "We have 1000 yen to split between us, but I don't think we'll actually use all of it." He mulled it over in his mind. "I don't think I wanna use all of it, even. That much candy is just way too much." He and Shun both smiled at that, and at their luck. "Wanna split a popsicle or something? It's really hot an' it's probably a good way to cool off at least a little bit, right? I don't think I could eat a whole one, and I'm not sure you could either. The ones here are pretty big."

"That sounds good."

"And besides," He continued, "I kinda needa watch my weight for soccer. I can't be eating too many sweets or I'd loose my edge. Get unhealthy, ya know. Then I'd really lag behind the team. I'm already not the best but I'd just sink further to the bottom if I'm keepin' up behavior like this." After a short pause, he added "Gotta keep treats like this to a minimum. It isn't so bad I eat sweets every so often, don't ya think? As long as I don't make it a habit?"

Shun shrugged. "Really, I don't see why eating sweets matters so much. So yeah, this one trip to the candy shop won't have like, bad effects or anything."

"Okay, that's good." Soutarou nodded. "If you think that, I guess I'll think that too. I was already thinking that, I think, but you just confirmed it. I've just gotta keep stuff like this to a minimum and I'll be okay. It's not like I'm the worst or anything, and it's not like I'd sink to the worst just for one small treat like this. It's half an popsicle, won't kill me or nothin'."

"Nah." Shun said playfully, quickening his pace so that he was in front of Soutarou. He had put the business with Gaku at the back of his mind now. It would resolve itself, wouldn't it? Or he could resolve it later, at the very least. It was serious, but that was later, and this was now. What better time to enjoy the now then right now? That was a good philosophy to live by, he decided one day in the past. Life was what you made it, so why not be happy with life? He skipped a little as he remembered that thought. Everything was going to be okay. He was sure of that suddenly. "Wanna race there?" he asked, turning around to face Soutarou, walking backwards now.

Soutarou cracked a smile. So Shun felt better now; that was good. "Of course. Heck, I'm so confident, I'll even give you a ten second lead."

"That's quite a bit in a race."

"And it isn't very far away either." Soutarou said. "So it's an even greater percentage of the time the race takes. But I ain't givin' you a lead for nothin'. I'll have you know you're facing a soccer player. I made it on the team; I've gotta be pretty fast if I was able to do that."

"You sure? I just want to make sure you're really that confident about it, because the shop is almost within sight. This is your last chance to retract." He taunted.

"I'm sure."

"Alright then. I'll start... Now!" Shun turned on his heel and tried to bolt for the nearby building, which was only down the road, but he found himself on the pavement instead. He had tripped over something, a largeish rock blocking his path. He hadn't noticed it because he was going backwards. There was pain all over his leg, but it was mostly concentrated on the surface of his knee. He looked down at it to find it bleeding, the surface bright red, not super visible on his brown fur but still easily feelable. He'd skinned it. The pain wasn't great, but he could already feel tears forming in his eyes.

Soutarou immediately crouched down. "You okay?" He asked worriedly. "Geez, I'm so sorry, didn't realize this would happen."

"It's okay. It wasn't your fault." Shun assured him. He inspected his knee further, but it was kind of hard to do with tears in his eyes. It hurt so much. Did other sixteen year olds cry when they accidentally hurt themselves.

"Want me to help you stand up?" Soutarou offered. He outstretched his hand, and got slightly closer. "I can ask for some ice if you want. We can clean the wound at my house, it's kinda far from here, but it's closer than yours."

Shun could feel tears coming from his eyes. He was acting like a baby, but he didn't really care. He kind of liked acting like a baby. "Y-yeah." He took Soutarou's hand and tried to stand up. It hurt more when he was standing, but he could stand. So he could deal with it. He was still holding Soutarou's hand when he stood, for balance.

"Do you want some ice first?" Soutarou asked. "Because I'm sure someone around, some shopkeeper would be willing to lend us some ice. The nearby candy shop, probably. The cashier there is a pretty friendly guy. I mean, if you want. But if you just want to get a bandage first we can get to my house pretty quickly if you let me carry you."

"I think - I think I'd like you to carry me." Shun said. His vision was blurry and his knee hurt intensely, like someone had just scraped the skin off the top of it, because that was exactly what just happened.

"Here." Soutarou turned around, and kind of squatted so that Shun would be able to get on easier. He dropped Shun's hand in the process. "I need to work out a little anyway. I'm sure you aren't really wanting to walk all that way."

"Thank you." Shun said, as clearly as he could, getting on top of Soutarou's back. Soutarou wrapped his arms around Shun's legs, and Shun wrapped his arms around Soutarou's chest. It was a little uncomfortable for both parties, but no matter. It was tiring and required many stops and breaks, but Soutarou got Shun to his house to dress the wound. That was what they needed to be concerned with right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> spoiler alert if I actually continue with there will be a stand called Detroit Summer, after the most underrated song on the OST, one called Feel Free, and one called Morenatsu. I'm not much for planning but I've thought of their powers. They might not even happen but I know what they do
> 
> And I gotta confess I just write until the character limit thing reaches below 490,000


	4. Soutarou Offers Assistance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry

"There." Soutarou wrapped the wound with a bandage. "Is that better?"

"It still kinda stings." Shun admitted. "But otherwise, yeah. The alcohol made it hurt a lot but after it came off it felt much better. I'm fine now."

Soutarou's house was kind of barren and unsettling. It was small, but had an upper story, and a basement, supposedly, but Shun didn't know where it was. Furniture was there, but not really arranged in a reasonable pattern. The couch was in front of the TV, and there were two other chairs, facing awkward directions. The floor was hardwood. The front door opened up into that room, the living room. That room opened up into the kitchen, and from the kitchen there was a door to the bathroom, which was where they were now. There were cabinets in the bathroom, full of all sorts of convenient things that normally belong in a bathroom. The antiseptic was kept in these cabinets, and so were bandages apparently. Soutarou just donned Shun's knee with a bunch of regular sized band-aids, because that was all he had. It didn't really matter, though. The sting had gone away mostly. It just looked kind of awkward, was all.

"You sure it doesn't hurt?"

Shun nodded. "So, what do you want to do now?" He looked out the bathroom door, into the kitchen, but there was really nothing interesting there. Just clean countertops. The Touno family always had clean countertops. They were devoid of dishes and other clutter. It was because Soutarou prided himself on at least trying to be a clean person. He was an up and coming perfectionist, and everything had to be in its right order.

"Well we could go up to the candy shop again." Soutarou suggested. "It's not super far from here."

Shun shrugged. "I was thinking maybe we could do something here. You don't have any video games, or I would offer to play them with you."

"Oh, sorry." Soutarou blushed slightly at that. He got red really easily. "I can't really afford expensive things like that."

"No, it's really fine!" He assured him, smiling to show he meant it. "I didn't mean it as an attack on you or anything. I was just talking."

"Oh ok." Soutarou looked around for a moment, standing up from the crouched position he had been in to put the final band aid on. He closed up the top of the box, and put the box back in the correct cabinet. "I have board games, though, if you like those."

"They're not very much fun with only two players." Shun reasoned. But then another idea came to his mind. "Wanna make a blanket fort?"

Soutarou stared at him blankly for a moment, but then his mouth stretched to a smile. "We'd have ta demolish it before my mom gets home from work, but that won't really be a problem, because she gets home at like, ten, on weekends. She has to work longer because everyone else is out doing things, and they get more customers on the weekends too."

Shun stood up and began to walk past Soutarou. The stairs were a little to the left of the kitchen, near the left of the front door. Up these stairs was another room that wasn't anything in particular, just a sitting room with bookshelves that didn't have that much on them. They had some photos and a few books but mostly they were empty. They looked forgotten. Beyond that room was Soutarou's room, where his bed was. There were pillows and blankets on his bed, hopefully enough to make a fort with. There was no reason why there wouldn't be, even if there weren't enough, there were some. The fort didn't have to be super big or fancy or anything, it just had to exist and be some sort of fun distraction. Shun began to head that way.

Soutarou immediately followed. "Geez, I haven't done this in years." He said. "It would probably be kinda embarrassing if someone found out we were doin' this, actually..." He paused a moment, but assured himself no one would find out. Everyone loved Shun anyway, and would be able to see how he couldn't reject an offer from him, so even if someone did find out, it wouldn't matter. So everything was cool, wasn't it? He wouldn't tell anyone himself and Soutarou might, but it would probably just be in their little group anyway.

"Who cares?" Shun responded. "It's fun, so that's all that matters really."

Soutarou nodded in acceptance. "Yeah. And besides, I don't think anyone would care that much anyway. Especially not since it's you."

"What do you mean?" Shun turned around for a second.

He shrugged awkwardly, feeling a little put on the spot. "You've just got that youthful aura about you, ya know? No one cares if you do kid stuff like this, and since I'm with you, no one will care about me doin' it, I I don't think. No offense, it's a good quality. Everybody likes that about you."

Shun didn't know what to say in response to that. He always figured he acted younger than people his age typically acted, but no one had really said it so up front like that. How come he was able to come this far without someone directly telling him that? Maybe someone had, and he just forgot. And it wasn't like it was really a bad thing. After all, Soutarou had said everyone loved that about him. So why worry, right? He liked being the baby anyway. There was something in him that just said he should be like this. This is more natural, more pure about acting like this. It kept people from doing bad things around him... That was... why it was necessary he stayed like this. He was more useful as a persona, and he enjoyed it, so why focus on the negative side of things? If there even was a negative side to that.

"Did I offend you?" Soutarou cautiously asked. He hadn't meant to hurt Shun; he thought he had known.

"Oh no, not at all." Shun clarified. "Yeah, I was just kind of caught off guard is all. I kinda figured I was like that."

"Like someone much younger?"

He shrugged. "Yeah. But let's not focus on that right now. Can I, we use the blankets and pillows and stuff from your bed for the fort?"

"Exclusively, I bet. I don't really think we should be takin' any of my mom's stuff." Soutarou began to climb the steps to his own room, right behind Shun, who already knew where it was.

Soutarou's room was decorated with sports posters, and there was a pile of dirty clothes in the corner of the room, right behind where the door opened so it wasn't super visible. It was the most lived in area of the house, making use of blank space instead of ignoring it and keeping it blank, even if the use was kind of fanatic. Somewhere near the far wall there was a pile of magazines, Sports Illustrated, Time, Discovery, other things that weren't gossip. On the side of the room where the door was, but on the other part of the wall, there was a desk with homework materials on it, and a chair under it, or that was supposed to be under it, but was kind of just next to it right now. He didn't really read all the whole thing cover to cover, but he read some of the articles, not most. His bed had blue striped covers, with the stripes going vertical. The pillow was plain, white, but flat, obviously used. There was only one pillow for the fort but oh well.

Shun went over and picked the pillow up. But suddenly an immense anxiety came over him. He kept telling himself that the business with Gaku would all be okay, but would it really? Ignoring it wouldn't solve any problems, would it? He would think of a solution... but later. He just needed to focus on the good bits of life right now, didn't he? Life was what he made it, and he shouldn't spend all his time worrying. That's right, that's right... Then why was he so worried about it?

"Are you okay?" Soutarou asked. "Are you still worried about that thing with your dad's birthday? You look kinda scared again."

"I'm fine." Shun said. But after a moment, he sat down on the bed. "I mean, I guess I'm a little worried."

"Do you want to go find Kouya and ask him to teach you more?" Soutarou asked. There was clear worry in his voice; his concern was evident.

Shun hated that he was concerning him but he didn't know how not to. He tried ignoring his problem, but it just came back, completely randomly, too, just in a burst. And the feeling was overwhelming. His knee hurt, too, now. "No..." Shun said. "It's just... my granddad is making me do something I really don't want to do."

"Play Happy Birthday for your dad on guitar?" Soutarou frowned. "Well, I know your granddad and he's really stubborn, but maybe if you prove to him that you legitimately can't do it, he won't make you. That's... really the only advice I know to offer. It isn't very good but is it worth a shot, do you think?"

"That's the problem." Shun could feel tears in his eyes again. His throat was starting to close up. "I can't. I can't do that." He wrapped his arms around the pillow, and buried his face in it.

Soutarou sat down on the bed next to him, and draped his arm over his shoulders. "Hey, it'll be okay." He sat there for a moment, waiting for Shun to actually sob, or maybe to say something more, but he didn't, and the two of them just sat there for a while, in despair-ridden peace. But Soutarou was trying his best. Somewhere in him he felt this was his element; he wanted more than anything to help, and here was his opportunity to. He just wanted to be a supporting and useful friend, and here he was being that, or at least he felt of use. He wasn't happy, exactly, but it felt right, listening like this.

Thoughts raced through Shun's mind. He just couldn't think clearly for some reason. Why not? All he needed to do was find a way to save Gaku - and he had plenty of time to do that, even, almost 24 whole hours. No, that wasn't much at all! Gaku was going to go to jail Gaku was going to go to jail! He wondered if it was worth it to just take one for the team, to take Iwao's beating and possible disownment. Gaku was clearly a threat to the Kodori heritage, but maybe it didn't matter if the Kodori heritage was threatened. Shun kept repeating those kinds of thoughts in his head. How could he use Cuty in any way that would help him? He could suspend the thoughts of the officers before they arrested Gaku, for presumably poisoning him, but he could only do that so long, and by the time they were within range of Cuty, they would already know about what Gaku did. And Army wouldn't be of any use either; how could it? It just made things farther away. Gaku could escape with it, but what else? It couldn't save him forever; he'd still be a criminal.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Soutarou asked softly. "More than you already have, I mean?" He waited a while for a response. He thought nothing was coming, but Shun eventually spoke.

"Gaku's phone number is 55-482-3893."

"Your cousin?" Soutarou asked.

Shun nodded. "Yeah. Tell him he needs to get out of there but tell him to make it look like I didn't warn him." He sniffed. His throat still felt tight.

"Get out of where?" Soutarou was confused.

"His apartment." Shun explained. "Just, do it right now I guess. You have a landline, right?"

Soutarou nodded, and stood up. He was kind of confused, but if it made Shun happy he would obey. "What was his number again? 555 492..."

"555 482 3893." Shun repeated. 

He still sat on the bed, his face buried in the pillow and his arms wrapped around it. He was pitiful looking, Soutarou thought. He really was worried about something. And what did Gaku have to do with this? Wasn't he disowned by the family? Cruel, but it did happen. He'd never be allowed to go to Shun's father's birthday party. Maybe he knew guitar though, and was for some reason a better teacher than Kouya. Soutarou couldn't remember that about him, but maybe it was true. Who knows? But no matter how perplexed he was Soutarou was obliged. Shun was clearly upset, so he had to try and make things better. "Okay," he said, turning his back on Soutarou. It was heartbreaking, somehow, knowing that Shun was behind him trying not to cry.

It had just come over Shun so suddenly that time, he thought as he descended the steps. He had thought Shun had chased away his problems earlier, but clearly not. The phone was in the kitchen. He felt slow walking too it; he should be going faster, he thought.

He dialed the digits. 555. 482. 3893.


	5. Gaku Exists Wow

"Hello?" There was silence for a good while, so he elaborated his position. "Is this Gaku Kodori? Soutarou Touno is speaking. I have somethin' that I think's of grave importance to you, but I'm not really sure..."

"Yes?" The voice on the other end was kind of raspy. Somehow it reminded him of that one guy in that movie who lived in the cave and had the ring. Gollum? Maybe it was Gollum. "This is Gaku... Kodori."

"Uh, my friend wants to tell you that you need to get out of your apartment as soon as you can. And you can't make it look like he warned you." There was an awkward pause; Soutarou couldn't help from holding his breath. He had no idea what was actually going on, but it was clearly something important. And he couldn't help from being proud of himself too. Although the circumstances were not ideal, he was helping, making a positive difference in Shun's life. Hopefully it would all go well in the end. No, it definitely would, he was sure of that.

"Why?"

Soutarou exhaled softly, to make it look like he didn't just sigh. It wasn't a relief, but he sighed anyway. He hadn't realized he was holding his breath. "I actually don't know, but he... he's pretty hung up about it. He's really worried, and I think it's best ya listen to him."

"Your friend is Shun, right?" Gaku asked.

"Yes." He answered, looking back behind him, even though Shun wasn't there. Shun was upstairs.

"And you're Soutarou? The lion who plays soccer?"

"Uh, yeah." How did he know that?

"Shun's told me about you." Gaku explained. "He comes over for tea sometimes. I work at a video game store, I'm his main supplier. If you're wondering who I am."

"Ah, thank you. I kinda was." Soutarou admitted. He let out a nervous chuckle. "You and him have the same last name. Are you related?" He asked.

"I'm his cousin." Gaku told him. "I've been disowned from the family though." He seemed kind of forlorn at that. "The Kodori family is just incest and totalitarianism. There is only peace there because peace is mandatory. I fought a lot, I suppose. I'm too liberal." He paused. "Do you know why I must escape my residence? Shun hasn't told you, has he?"

"No." He glanced behind him again, even though Shun still wasn't there. Maybe he was hoping Shun would come down the steps or something. He wanted to see Shun right now. He got the feeling he was getting into something that would only bring trouble. That was good, though. Trouble was worth it as long as he could help. "Is- is Shun's family coming for you?"

"Presumably." Soutarou got the impression Gaku was shrugging at the other end of the line.

"How are you gonna to get out of there without givin' the Kodoris the impression that you've been warned?" Nervousness was building in his voice. Gaku was obviously in serious danger, and he couldn't think of a way to help him. He didn't even know all the details.

"I don't know." Gaku said slowly. "If I knew all the details, I might be able to think of something." He exhaled, trying to think apparently. He thought aloud. "Iwao is something to be feared, if I don't give into whatever plot he has, I fear Shun might be in serious danger. But his stand can withhold information from its target, so I don't see how that couldn't be useful..."

"His stand?" Soutarou asked. This felt like a missing piece of information, that was probably vital to the Kodoris' plot.

"You don't know?"

"No.." He leaned on the kitchen counter. "What's that?"

Gaku sighed, like it were a chore to explain this. It probably was. Maybe he thought he was going against Shun's wishes by explaining this to Soutarou. Maybe he was. "Well," he started, searching for the right words. "Iwao, my grandfather, and Shun's grandfather, has a bow and arrow, that if someone is shot with, they will develop a stand, or stands can be inherited, like mine and Shun's, and most of the Kodori family. A stand is kind of like a creature summoned, that you can control, and it has a power, sometimes two or three."

Soutarou took all the information at face value, because he was gullible, but he tried to temper that gullibility. "That doesn't sound real."

"Well it is." Was Gaku's curt response. Soutarou believed him now, somewhat skeptically, but only because it didn't sound real at all. Nothing like that could possibly exist, could it? He went on. "If damage is dealt to a stand, it will be transferred back to the user, and vice versa. When a stand is destroyed, the user dies." Soutarou was silent. "Do you understand?"

He nodded, but realizing that Gaku couldn't see him through the phone, he vocalized it. "Yes." He had so many questions. "Are the Kodoris going to use their stands on you, do you think?"

"Probably." Gaku said, forlorn. Doom was creeping into his mind, Soutarou thought.

"Do you have a stand?" Was his next question.

"My stand is called Army." He told him. "It causes things to come apart. If I commanded Army to use its power on a log cabin for example, the individual logs would come undone from each other. Or if another person and I are standing close to each other, it can create distance and make us far apart from each other. The only thing it doesn't work on is living tissues and organs."

"Okay." He didn't know exactly how to respond that, but he willed himself to remember. That was crucial information. "What do the Kodoris' stands do?"

"Iwao's stand is probably their most powerful." Gaku said. "And reasonably, he's the head of the family. He's also the oldest. Our grandfather. He controls the stand Imagine Dragons. It has nearly free control of water, able to pull water from almost any source and use it to fuel itself. The lake is the easiest source of water to him, but he can also draw water vapor from the air, and most notably, water from his own body. The more "connected" the water is to him, the stronger his stand becomes, so water he draws from his own body creates the strongest form of it. The only thing he cannot draw water from is living organisms that are not himself, such as you or me. It has the power to control the density of the water that makes up its form, meaning it can be very large, and incredibly heavy, or lighter than air. Even scarier, it can also separate the Oxygen and Hydrogen bonds in that water to create fire." He paused a moment. "He's spent many years honing his craft, and I don't think I'd be able to beat him in a battle in a million years, and besides victory would lead in my arrest anyway. I have to avoid fighting him at all costs if he comes for me. And right now it really does appear as if he's coming for me."

"Are you scared?" Soutarou let himself be sympathetic. He wanted to help.

"Eh." Gaku gave the impression of shrugging, even though Soutarou couldn't see. He obviously didn't want Soutarou to be aware of his fear. "I'm mostly worried about Shun. Is he okay?"

"He's pretty distraught." Soutarou said, keeping an eye on the entryway to the kitchen, just in case he did come down, which he wouldn't. "He's worried about you, you should try and get out of there, any way you can."

"I really should." He said. "But if I do, Iwao will know Shun somehow warned me. I don't really have any choice but to cooperate with whatever Iwao's plan is, even it definitely threatens my safety. I wish I knew all the details, because Iwao isn't dumb enough to just simply attack me. He would be arrested. Stands can't be seen by anyone who doesn't have one, but who else could they expect but Iwao, if I was murdered and he was the only one there? I have cameras set up all around my house, just in case he tries something. I think he believes he's outsmarted me, but if I know what his plan is, I might be able to find a way around it."

"Stands can't be seen?" Soutarou asked.

"They can be seen by other stand users. But not by random passersby." Gaku explained. "Since you don't have a stand, you can't see them."

"And how did you say people get stands?" Maybe if he got a stand he would be able to help in some way. There was no telling what exactly it would do, but it could make a difference in some way. He needed to make his attainment of it look like an accident.

Gaku didn't respond at first. "If you're thinking about grabbing yourself a stand, don't. It will only make you a target for Iwao, and you would have no practice training your stand. Anything it does would be either too weak or too strong and no matter what too hard to deal with the consequences of. I believe you're the type of person that wants to do whatever you can. But sometimes you just can't help. When you grow up you'll realize that."

"I'm plenty grown." Soutarou objected.

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen." Soutarou lied. It was only a one year difference to his actual age and besides he was turning sixteen in a month so it was only a minor lie.

"Shun's also sixteen." Gaku stated. "And you know he's very childish. You're at that stage in life where you believe that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. Many have already been disillusioned by that age, but I believe you possess an extraordinary strong will. Shun's told me about you. And I hear it in your voice, now. You're trying to change the world for the better, you want to help your friend, you want to help me. You-"

"Is that wrong?" He interjected.

"No." Gaku admitted. "But it shows how smart you are."

Soutarou didn't say anything. Part of him was enraged, and the other part of him ignored that rage, but the whole of him was now even more determined to help. Gaku was just scared, that's why he was being mean like that. Gaku, like him, only wanted to help, and he wanted to help by not endangering Soutarou by involving him in this mess. But some people needed to be involved to insure the safety of everyone. That's why police, that's why firemen existed. He made it up in his heart that yes, he would give himself a stand, and yes, he would help, no matter the cost. Gaku's life was in danger and so was Shun's livelihood. He could make a sacrifice to ensure those precious things.

"Can you bring the phone to Shun?" Gaku asked. "I need to ask him about all the details of Iwao's plan. Presumably he knows them, right?"

Soutarou shrugged but didn't say anything. He was still going over his plan in his mind. If he recalled correctly, Iwao could give a stand to someone with a magic bow and arrow. If he could just find that, he could-

"Hello? Are you still there?"

"Oh yeah, sorry." Soutarou answered. "Bring the phone to Shun, right? You wanna talk to him?"

"Yes."

"He's pretty distraught right now." He said. "I think he might be crying."

"I know." Gaku said. "But I really need to know all the details so we can formulate a plan to counter that one, in some manner that Shun doesn't get caught in telling me. He might be less upset if he hears me, I think."

"Okay." He responded, somewhat forlornly. As he exited the kitchen and walked up the stairs to his room, he hoped with all his heart that the two of them could think up something. And if they couldn't, he would intervene. He was determined Iwao be stopped and Gaku, and more importantly, Shun, be saved. If worst came to worst, so be it, as long as they were safe.

"And one more thing, Soutarou." Gaku added as Soutarou entered his room. "Leave when Shun and I discuss this. I don't want you to be involved."

He frowned, but obeyed. "Okay."

Shun was still curled up around that pillow, but there were now wet spots on it where his tears had fallen. He had been keeping his anxiety in for a while, and releasing it had been pretty immense. Soutarou couldn't see his face, but he looked so pitiful and weak. If there was anything he could do to help, he'd probably do it. He just wanted Shun to be safe. He tapped his shoulder, causing him to look up.

Shun didn't say anything.

Soutarou handed the phone to him. "It's Gaku." He said.

He reluctantly took it, and put it to his ear. Gaku began saying something to him probably, but Soutarou couldn't hear. Shun responded with okay a few times, and then turned to Soutarou. "Gaku says he doesn't want you to get involved in this. Please leave." His face was still red and stressed looking, tired from crying and being happy just moments before.

"Ah... okay." Soutarou left the room slowly. As he closed the door behind him, determination grew in his heart. Shun would probably go back home or something soon, and when he did, Soutarou would go up to the shrine. He thought he recalled an ornate arrow hanging on the wall there. No one in their right mind would shoot it, because it was too large to be shot, and besides it was a shrine, but now he had reason to. If acquiring a stand could give him the power to help in some way, he would go through with that. Definitely.


	6. Gaku Still Exists (Wow)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's a note that keeps appearing at the end of the last chapter that I put on the first chapter about a second chapter probably not happening and it? won't go away. so it's gonna be there, at the end of this chapter. Unless I put notes of there, let's see what happens.

"Hm..." Gaku was clearly thinking on the other end. Shun had told him everything, Iwao's plan and how it was going to happen - the poisoning, and the use of Cuty on the security cameras. He felt lighter now, for some reason, now that he wasn't carrying all that around and no longer had to deal with it on his own. He felt bad worrying Gaku with it, but Gaku had a right to know; he was the one in danger, after all. Why was it such a relief if he had let go of it, he wondered. Wasn't being sad about it a bad thing? Life was what you made of it, after all. It did feel as if there was someone here now though, someone who could be there for him, and who he was there for. He had warned Gaku, hadn't he? Through Soutarou, but still. Now Gaku was in on whatever they could draft to ensure his freedom. And Gaku was smart. Together, they could save him.

"How badly do you think Iwao will punish you if you fail?" Gaku asked.

"Pretty badly." Shun said, kind of shuddering. He hadn't realized he was out of breath. Iwao was truly scary. Apart from the immense stand power that he could potentially use on Shun, he enforced such punishments as starvation and working Shun until he fainted, for crimes like sneaking out to see friends. He felt better than he did a moment ago, though.

"He's done pretty nasty things before." Gaku said matter of factly. "And this is me we're talking about, not just simple disobeying. I'm dangerous and a terrible influence, so-"

"You're not a terrible influence." Shun cut him off. Truthfully, Shun felt Gaku was the best influence in his life. He might be creepy and unsettling, but he was kind at heart. He was young but wise, and he gave Shun video games. And video games, although at surface level superficial, offered an escape. The rest of his life was so stressful, but games offered an escape. He could be Chrono or Link or literally anyone, and no matter the trial, you could always win in video games if you tried hard enough. He had so little time to play but they were so nice. Gaku was the same. The two of them were linked, even, as Gaku was the supplier. He couldn't say it about too many people in his life, but Gaku actually understood Shun. No one else did that, other people came close and other people loved him, but Gaku showed kindness and understood Shun's background completely. He had lived it too.

However, Gaku didn't respond. Not at first. After a while, he did speak. It was only a curt "Thank you." but it seemed heartfelt.

And he continued. "But what I don't want, Shun, is for Iwao to punish you for helping me. We can't make it look like I was warned. So many things would be too suspicious. I don't have any family other than the one that is actively trying to eliminate and imprison me, but maybe if I faked having a girlfriend I could go to her house or something. I couldn't sell my apartment in time." He paused. "You haven't thought of anything, have you?"

"You would have to render your hands unusable." Shun said. "But that would involve actually breaking your hands, because the police would want to investigate your medical record if you say you have broken hands and therefore can't make tea. I could make the tea still, but if I poisoned it it would have to be me who did it, and the police could trace it back to Iwao. They could arrest him, but they would probably just think I'm suicidal. Iwao would convince them of that. So it would be more reasonable for me to just not poison myself."

"That's genius, Shun." Gaku said, his voice smiling. But Shun couldn't tell if it was a genuine happiness. It probably wasn't; no one wants to break their own hands.

"I don't want to hurt you though." He said meekly. That's why he didn't want to go with this plan in the first place. It was a superior alternative to Gaku's arrest, but it still involved directly harming Gaku. What if he never recovered? And he would surely be fired, wouldn't he, if he wasn't able to use his hands to work? He would hardly be able to do anything even! So few things can be done without your hands! It would be easy to make it look like an accident, by Gaku just dropping something heavy on his hands, or someone else dropping something heavy on his hands, and it would be very difficult for Iwao to blame Shun for Gaku accidentally breaking his hands, because Iwao wouldn't think he would think of that, and iwao couldn't conceive Shun hurting someone directly like that, especially if it seemed like an accident. But that was exactly the problem. He didn't want to hurt anyone. He didn't want to tell Gaku of Iwao's plot at first because he would be burdened by this news of his demise, but actual broken hands would hurt someone much more than just anxiety, wouldn't they?

"Don't worry about me." Gaku reassured him. "Broken hands are better than prison time. They'll heal, slowly."

"But what if they don't?" Shun objected. "And how much of the cost will government insurance cover? What if you get fired because you can't do your job without hands? You can hardly do anything without hands, think about it! You can walk and you can talk and you can do other things but you'll need someone waiting on you because you can't do much for yourself and I definitely can't do that because Mom and Dad would never let me! You're alone and you don't deserve it but you're alone you can't survive if you can't feed yourself!"

"Shun," Gaku spoke calmly to reassure him.

"Hurting you like that would defeat the entire point of keeping you out of prison!" He could feel his voice rising, but tears weren't coming out right now. He must have cried himself out earlier, when Soutarou was on the phone. He didn't feel as stressed now, but he could feel fear rising in him again. It was still morning, he could thinking of something. He tried to repeat that in his head. It was still morning, he could think of something. Gaku wouldn't have to be hurt.

"Shun, we just need someone else's doctor." Gaku said. More aggressively this time, but he still kept his voice somewhat soft. "We need to find someone who's just broken both their hands and we need to find their doctor, so they can prove that both hands were broken."

Understanding crept upon him. "I can use Cuty to withhold the fact that you're someone else. You'll tell the doctor you're the other guy, no, you tell the police you're the other guy, and I'll withhold the fact from them that you're you. So they'll ask the doctor about you breaking both your hands, like you claim. He tells them that it happened, they give you a pass, and then afterward, I can withhold the fact that they asked about a different guy."

He felt like Gaku was nodding at the other end of the line. He felt ecstatic suddenly. Gaku would be okay, he was sure of that. He had actual reason to believe it too.

"All I need to do is stay close to the police officers, so my stand will work." He went on. He could feel the tone of his voice growing lighter and lighter, happier and happier. "I've honed it to pretty far range, about 100 meters, so it should work. I just need to trail them whenever they long distances in a car. Or trail the one that will be checking up on your medical record, anyway. It probably won't even take very long, it can be done with a simple phone call." He laughed slightly. "I can have Kouya lurk near your apartment, and if a chase needs to happen, I can hop on his motorcycle and follow, as inconspicuously as possible."

"You'll need to use Cuty on them longer than just that." Gaku regretfully reminded him. "After my, the other guy's, medical record is checked, you need to withhold the information that the person they checked's name isn't my name. If it's one person, that can be done easily. He'll think that something is off, and he isn't quite sure of it, but names aren't matching up somehow. We can convince him that he's just remembering incorrectly..."

"The courts are going to check your medical record." Shun said. Despair crept into him. "That evidence isn't going to be checked by someone immediately at the crime scene, but the lay judge. And someone's going to pull it up for him, some lawyer. I don't know how the legal system works..." He tried not to let his happiness fade from him. They'd think of something, that's right. It wasn't despair yet, Gaku could be helped. Everything would be okay. It was pointless to go through life being negative. So Gaku would be okay.

"To be honest, I probably should, but I don't either." Gaku sighed. "It would be too much to deal with, anyway. And we'd have to find someone who broke both their hands, which is a very difficult thing to do, I'd imagine. They couldn't post about it on the Internet. And they'd have to be in Japan, preferably nearby, though you'd also have to withhold their address from whoever's reading it anyway."

"It would be easier to just deal with the doctor instead of the legal system." Shun said. Yes, that was a great idea. See? Progress, good things were happening, an effective plan. He would force himself to be happy, darn it. He was smiling. He was kicking his legs back and forth underneath him, because sitting on the edge of the bed like this, his feet didn't reach the floor. He was short. How funny. It was deeply unsettling, talking about serious things like this while in this state, but he ignored that too. Just focus and be happy. It wasn't hard; he was doing it. "If I could follow him instead and make him mix up the records, it would be easy. But I'd need to get there. Kouya could take me."

"Wouldn't you be at the trial?" Gaku asked.

"Let's bring "your" doctor to the trial then." Shun proposed. "Befriend him. It's wrong to do this to him, but if I can get him to understand, we can swap the medical records of the other person and you." They could do it. Hope swelled within him. All fear was gone, he was sure of it. Gaku would be okay, he could do this. They just needed to find a doctor that had a patient like that.

"Alright." Gaku said. "But I can't do the Internet research on that, the government could see my history. So I'll need to go to the hospital. I'll call you when I find something helpful. Patient doctor confidentiality is existent and obtrusive to our plans, but if I try to find someone who's hands are broken, and when I do, I'll call you."

"Okay!" Joy was seeping into his veins. A great relief was already washed over him. Right now it wasn't exactly cemented yet, but he was certain. Gaku would be okay. It was okay. Everything was okay. No reason to feel down.

"And if I don't find anyone," Gaku began. Shun caught his breath. "I will break my hands. Actually."

"Don't do that!" Shun objected. Not after that discussion, not after all this time trying to think of a way Gaku didn't have to hurt himself, trying to think of a way for Gaku to walk free.

"Shun, I love you." Was all he said.

"I love you too." He responded. "That's why I can't let you hurt yourself."

"And I can't let you get hurt either." Gaku asserted. "Now, tell your friend he doesn't need to do anything reckless. I've got to go now."

"Don't hurt yourself!" Shun nearly shouted it. "And-and please call this phone, not the one at my house! So that my Dad doesn't sense anything's up!"

"I will. Bye."

"Bye." He didn't hang up until he heard that ringing noise coming from it, that signified the other person had hung up and you had still been there too long. Even then he kind of left it there. But he didn't let himself worry. He stood up and stretched. He had been hunched over for a while, hadn't he? He could feel his tail wagging. There was proof right there that he knew deep down everything was fine. There was no point spending life so negatively. Life was what you made it, he told himself. The phone was still in his hand, so he hung up. Gaku would be okay, he was sure of it. Everything would be okay.

Now where was Soutarou? Gaku had said something about him. Make sure he doesn't do anything reckless. Shun exited the room to search for him. He was still in the house, obviously, so there weren't too many places he could be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty much the conflict (or at least the one that should've been focused on, aka the not Hiroyuki related one) in Shun's route is him ignoring his problems and just. being Shun anyway. If that really is him. So I've tried to capture that in this fic and also I'm only putting this note here at the end to see if that weirdly super present one stops happening hey does anyone remember that lyrical cover of Pyrocumulus that was so cool I love that


	7. Gaku Miraculously Continues to Exist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have literally no idea where I'm going with the plot I'm just thinking of stands. Ten's is called Harder Better Faster Stronger. Ten and Kyouji both still haven't appeared but hopefully they will. One day.
> 
> Also basically nothing has happened so far, just a whole lot of planning, which is not surprising as this is being written by me, but it's still probably kind of infuriating. I call it "suspense" even though it isn't

Now, how exactly did one go about finding someone with broken hands? Gaku supposed he would probably try the hospital first, ask about someone with broken hands. Claim to be this person's brother or something. But he'd need to know their name first to do that. And he only had until this night to find someone. He was awkwardly standing in front of the door to his apartment now, pondering what he could within his power do. Army wouldn't be of much use in a search, especially for someone he didn't know. He supposed he could space between himself and everything that wasn't this person, but that was really abstract and complicated. He had trained with his stand for a good while, but that was just something impossible. Only Iwao was able to use his stand that creatively.

He could go to the library, and try and find recent Internet posts on the computers there. He decided he would search until 1 o'clock, that was approximately three hours from now, a little over. That was a substantial amount of time, but not great enough to find someone. If he couldn't find anyone then, he would search elsewhere. There were probably cameras in the library though, weren't there? If the government was able to find he was in the library through eye witness accounts, they would be able to find the computer he used and search its browsing history. But if the cameras couldn't see him, there would be no proof of that and he would be okay. Shun would need to accompany him.

It was worth calling back, he decided. It would be an awkwardly short time between hanging up and calling again, but that didn't really matter. He walked back over to his phone. He used Caller ID to find the number that had just called him, which was the residence of Shun's friend, that Soutarou guy. He dialed the number: 555 474 4571. After a few rings, it was Shun who picked up.

"Oh, you're back already?" He sounded enthused, almost delighted. Of course he would be, he's close to saving someone he cares about. "Did you find anyone?" He asked.

"No actually." Gaku said. "I'm going to the library in Kazenari soon, to try and find someone who's recently broken their hands, wrists, or arms or something, recently. There'll be cameras there, and I need your assistance in helping them not find me. Your stand should be able to withhold the information from them that I am there."

"Okay." Shun agreed quickly. "I can get Kouya to take me. I also need the address of the library." He offered. However, a thought crept into his mind. "But Mom and Dad might wonder where I am if I'm not home for lunch. That's reason for Granddad to suspect something's up, I think."

"Hmm..." Gaku ran his free hand through his hair, thinking. "Do you think they'd let you have lunch at a friend's?"

"I think Mom and Dad would..." Shun mused. "But I'm not so sure about Iwao. He's probably angry because I'm out of the house right now, now that I'm thinking about it. I don't see why he wouldn't want to keep an eye on me in whatever way possible."

That was troublesome, Gaku thought. Maybe he would be better off not going to the library. All this not-actually-breaking-his-hands business was too complicated anyway, and there was too much room for error. Now certainly, he had no idea what he would do without the use of his hands for a while, but it was worth it to resist arrest, wasn't it? He sure hoped it was. He had work today, starting at four o'clock. He could just drop a heavy box on his hands, it would be easy.

"When do you have to pay your water bill?" Shun asked, after hearing Gaku's prolonged silence.

"The twenty-ninth." Gaku answered. "Why?"

"I was hoping maybe you could just not pay it and your water would be shut off, rendering you unable to make tea, but I guess it's too far away." Shun explained. "And besides, you could poison me, by which I mean I could poison myself, with a sandwich or something. So it wouldn't matter anyway. I had already gone through that thought process earlier, I'm just... grasping at straws."

"It's fine." He assured him. "You know, even if I hurt myself, it'll be worth it."

"It'll defeat the point." Shun objected. "Who will take care of you? My family won't, I can't. And what if they won't fire you?"

"They can't fire me." Gaku interjected. "That's illegal. And what about your friend Soutarou? I'm sure he'd be glad to take me in for a while. He seems to want to do anything to help. It's better than him going up to the shrine and grabbing a stand, anyway."

"But he doesn't know about stands." Shun said.

Gaku felt culpable after that, the guilty party. It was probably wrong of him to tell that kid, wasn't it? He had gone against Shun's wishes and now he knew about something he should never be involved with. It was only a threat to his safety. "I told him." he admitted reluctantly. "He was worried about everything, so I explained that Iwao was probably coming after me. He wanted to know about stands and all that, so I told him. I know now that I probably shouldn't have; now he just wants to becomes involved. I warned him not to, but I can't be certain if he really listened to me or not."

"He's a good person."

"He needs to know not everything is his problem." He continued. "He's just going to end up getting hurt. He gave me the impression that he was going to try and go out and grab himself a stand, using Iwao's bow and arrow, but luckily I don't think he knows where it is. He absolutely does not know what he's messing with, though." Gaku wasn't the type of person to get worried, about anything, ever, but he feared for this kid. He wanted to be involved with things that could destroy him. Literally.

"I don't want to burden him with all this, though." Shun objected. There was clear discomfort in his voice. He truly didn't want to inconvenience his friend like that.

"It's better than his recklessly getting a stand."

"Yeah, I guess." Shun sighed. "Okay, hold on, let me go find him. I'm just going to take you with me, okay?"

"Take the phone?"

"Yeah." Shun clarified.

"Okay. Just tell me when you find him." There was silence from the other end, except for the sounds of Shun moving. Gaku could tell he was going through his house, just looking around. What if he had already left? The thought crept into Gaku's mind. He couldn't say he was troubled by it, because he wasn't certain he was troubled by anything anymore, but it was there, and a possibility. Just now, he could've gone and tried to obtain a stand. He was going to make everything twenty times worse: Shun would be discovered, and he'd become a target of Iwao also. Nothing could end well in this situation.

However, luckily, he hadn't strayed anywhere. "He's in the bathroom." Shun said into the phone. "He'll be out in a moment." Thank God, Gaku thought. He regretted telling that kid about stands at all. After a few moments of nothing happening, due to waiting for Soutarou to come out, but he heard the sound of a door opening soon enough.

"Let me just hand the phone to him. You can explain better than I can, I think." Shun said. He heard Soutarou ask a question in the background, but he couldn't tell what he was saying.

After the phone exchanged hands, Soutarou spoke into it. "Hello?"

"This is still Gaku." He answered. "I have a proposition for you, rather than you going rouge and attaining a stand without anyone's consent, you can take care of me after my hands are broken."

"Wait, why will your hands be broken?" Was all he asked. He seemed more confused than anything, and didn't want to bring attention to the fact that his plan had been uncovered, more or less.

"I'm going to break them." Gaku said. He then explained Iwao's plan, and why that would solve the problem, allowing him to escape prison while still not drawing Iwao's attention to Shun. No one would reasonably break their own hands, would they? It was easy to make it look like an accident, if something heavy was dropped, and it would prevent him from being able to make tea.

He got the impression Soutarou was smiling or at the very least just impressed, probably both. "Definitely! Soutarou offered. "I mean, I'll have to get my Mom's permission, and she doesn't get home until six, but I can call you tonight an' tell you if I can! I definitely will though, trust me, if you're in serious danger, I can help no matter what my Mom says."

"Good." Gaku said. If he was the type of person to smile, he would have just then. "Thank you so much, Soutarou."

"You're welcome!" He sounded excited about this for some reason. He was a strange child, although a kind one. There was something about him, Gaku detected; he was the type of person to go on a heroic journey, he very well could one day. Maybe this right now was his heroic journey, or at the very least a sidequest.

"Alright then, I'm going to go now." To drop something heavy on his hands. "I suppose I'll see you soon. Would you please pass the phone back to Shun?"

"Yeah." He responded. "Good bye!"

"Bye." Gaku waved, even though Soutarou couldn't see him. Luckily, no one was around, or he would have felt foolish. Maybe Soutarou had done the same thing. He could hear the phone being transferred back to Shun.

"Hello?"

"It's settled." Gaku said. "But I'm sure you could already infer that by Soutarou's actions and words."

"Yep." Shun's voice seemed to be smiling, like it always was. He was just such a happy person. It would be kind of annoying, if Gaku didn't think of him almost like a son. "But," Shun went on, "If you can find someone who broke their hands, I... I still want to go with the earlier plan, okay? I don't want you to get hurt."

"It's all for your sake anyway, Shun." He responded. "Don't worry about me."

"I can't help it." He seemed downcast, but only slightly. "But I'll try." His voice perked up again. How was he able to do that? Had the Kodori family really made him that good at lying, or was that real? In actuality, it was a mix of both, but that was hard for Gaku to reason with; he preferred to puzzle over it. It was easier somehow, than fully grasping Shun's character.

"Bye, Shun." He said. "See you soon."

"You too!" Shun hesitated a moment before hanging up. "I love you, be safe."

He couldn't help from smiling. "I will. Love you too."


	8. Press F to Pay Respects to Anyone Who Actually Plays Guitar and Reads This

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have never touched a guitar in my life I am so sorry to anyone who has
> 
> also you should probably know that I don't actually proofread anything ever and that's why this whole deal is probably really full of errors

"So you forgot all of it?" Shun couldn't tell whether Kouya was annoyed or amused; it was probably a mix of both. They were in the park now; Shun ate lunch at home, stressfully, though with little incident. He made sure not to draw suspicion to himself when he went out, so that no one would know he was gone. His parents didn't pay too close attention to his whereabouts, but Iwao might be a little attentive due to the current circumstances, so luckily he wouldn't ask. Now Shun had gone to the park again for guitar lessons; he and Kouya agreed they would meet there. Kouya still thought Ryo's birthday was around the corner and the birthday song needed to played. Shun felt bad lying to him, but he could close if off with saying that Ryo didn't need a song played for him after all. He had forgotten everything, too. Both those things were true, he supposed, especially the last one, but they would look awkward together like that. He wanted to take lessons, anyway. Kouya was so nice to be around..

"Yeah." Shun smiled nervously. "I'm sure I remember some, but I can't really recall it..." He was wagging his tail and not trying to hide it. He wasn't the type of person to try and hide that sort of thing anyway; it was just tail wagging. Shin was the only person he knew who would judge him for it and Shin wasn't here right now. He didn't live to please Shin anyway. Shin was kind of a giant jerk.

Kouya obviously didn't quite know how to react, but he kept a cool expression, like he always did. All that work, gone to waste, he was probably thinking. But deep down, he wanted to teach Shun again just as badly as Shun wanted to be taught again. Which was to say, he certainly didn't mind at all, he was even prepared to enjoy it a little... or maybe a lot. He smiled. "Well," he spoke, "It would probably just be best to start from the top again. Maybe go over the basics of guitar. Just don't forget it this time."

"I promise I won't!" Shun assured him. He made a mental note to actually make progress this time. Or try to. Learning from Kouya was fun, and somehow, exciting in some other way that he couldn't quite describe, but backtracking was infuriating. He could always learn more after this session. He probably only forgot so much, which is to say pretty much everything, last time because he was so stressed about Gaku. Now that issue was resolved, so he could definitely be happy. He didn't have to will that feeling to happen, it just was right now. Good. This was the natural state of his existence, and he liked it.

"Alright then." Kouya shifted the wooden guitar from his lap into Shun's. They were both sitting on the grassy hill, turned away from the slowly descending sun.

Shun graciously accepted this, placing his hands in what he believed to be the appropriate places. "Is this right? For a G?" He turned to Kouya for approval.

He was making an effort not to look slightly miffed, which he was. He was close, he supposed. He just needed to move his middle finger up a string. "Here." Kouya offered. "Move your middle finger. No- the other way. There."

"Like this?" Shun asked.

Kouya nodded. "Yeah, just like that. I think. Strum it once, so I can be sure." Shun strummed it once. "Okay, cool." Kouya said. "So that's G Major. And uh, A Major is the next one I think." He hummed the tune briefly. "Yeah. Do you remember that one?"

Not at all. Not in the slightest. But he guessed anyway. There was no point in not guessing, was there. "Like this?" He asked, knowing he was completely wrong. He blushed at that; how embarrassing. Oh well, something like that wouldn't dampen his mood. Life was what you made of it, and there was no point in being ashamed of your actions, especially something so trivial like this.

"That's actually... exactly right. Huh." Kouya looked surprised, but he regained his composure quickly. "But the fingerings aren't really the tricky bit. You need to know how to switch between them and get down the correct rhythm, hitting the correct strings and all that."

"Okay." Shun absorbed that knowledge. Wise words, probably, passed down from an esteemed elder. Sensei, that's what he'd call him. Heh, he wondered if that would make Kouya mad. Hopefully not.

"Do you remember the fingering for G?" Kouya asked, just to make sure.

He nodded, and switched back to it, and played it.

"Alright, try and get those first few notes then." Kouya instructed.

He had pretty good motor control. He could do this, Shun assured himself. It was pretty easy, going off without a hitch. The only thing he had a problem with was getting all the strings. He didn't really need to hit all the strings though, did he? That sounded like too much. Surely the song would be the same if he missed a few notes in each cord. The bottom few, probably, could go easily without too much harm on the melody.

"Good." Kouya smiled. This exact thing had happened yesterday, with Shun making progress. Hopefully it wouldn't be as easy to forget this time around, though. There was so much less weighing on his mind.

"Thank you, sensei." He teased.

All Kouya made was a grunting sound. He was pleased, but only because it was Shun. He didn't know exactly how to respond other than that. "Does this mean you're my disciple now? In the way of music?"

"Of course." He responded.

"Well then, disciple." Kouya said. "The next note is C, I think." He hummed the tune. Happy Birthday to- "Yeah. C is like, well here, let me show you. If you don't already remember. Do you remember?"

"Uh..." Shun put his fingers in semi random places. It felt right, almost, though it was probably pretty off. He had no idea what he was doing, but he was fairly good at it so far, so this semi-random guessing pattern wasn't doing too shabby so far. Guitar wasn't that different from video games - it was all about mastering the technique, the motor controls and all that. "This?"

"Sorry, but no." Kouya sighed. "That's not even close to it. Here, let me show you." He place his hands over Shun's, repositioning them to the right places to correctly play a C Major chord. Shun's hands were so tiny; he hoped they wouldn't get sore from doing all this guitar work, they were going to be up against the string for a while, until the lesson was over and both of them were satisfied. "Like this, okay?" He said. "Don't forget that chord. You need to be able to go from the G to that one."

"Alright." Shun tried to internalize the location of his fingers. He had done this once before, yesterday, so it wasn't too difficult. He liked the feeling of Kouya's fingers moving his own - his hands were so big, and just, warm, really. It was comforting. Maybe he would mess it up on purpose once or twice, just to feel that again, he thought, but he chased it out of his mind. That would be weird, and he wanted to lie only as much as necessary. With Kouya, he didn't need to lie that much, especially about small things like this. So he wanted to keep that lying to a minimum around Kouya, especially since the entire premise of this interaction was a lie. How wrong of him, but oh well. It was already happening, so why worry about it, right? He was in the wrong here, but oh well.

"Got it?" Kouya asked.

"Wait, got what?" Shun was confused for a moment. What had he been supposed to get, again?

"C Major chord." Kouya explained. "Do you think you have that down enough to play it the once?"

"Oh, yeah!" He assured him. Definitely. He remembered it well enough, and it felt right. He could get here from G, which he also... still remembered, more or less. He had got it almost right when first trying today, so he thought it was pretty likely he'd get it right again. He knew what G felt like. He knew what A felt like, and he knew what C felt like. Everything was going good so far.

"Alright, play it from the beginning again." Kouya instructed.

Shun was able to do so with relative ease. The C was a little tricky, but that was only because it was his first time playing it in the pattern. It was easy aside from that one small hiccup. And he only hesitated a little, it didn't really throw off anything.

"Now the next note is B." Kouya said. "B natural. Cause it's a half step down from C, which is that top note there. You don't remember B, do you?"

Shun shook his head no. He kinda remembered it, but not really. Not enough to actually know what to do with his fingers.

"Here then, let me show you." Kouya led his fingers to the right place.

Shun liked the way he moved them, it felt kind somehow. He was being taught something, and his fingers were so warm. He liked the feeling of their hands touching. Kouya's fingers led him to the B Major chord. He was determined to remember this - well, determined enough. If he didn't, it was no problem really. He had forever to figure this out, because he was never going to actually play it for his father, he didn't suppose. He ingrained this one in his mind, too. This was B. Kouya had showed him where to put his fingers and all that; this was the right way. He tried to internalize the positions, and how everything related to everything else. This was 'you' in the lyrics. He could get here from the previous chord. To test himself, he tried it out. C... and then B. He hiccuped a little with a slow transition there but oh well.

"Oh nice." Kouya commented. "Already trying to get that note-by-note in. I commend thee, disciple."

"It's all for your gracious teachings, sensei." Shun said, with a smile. Kouya was smiling, too, but for some reason he was trying to conceal his happiness somewhat. Kouya was just like that. He never properly expressed his emotions, really. Shun knew he tried to let himself be more natural around him, but Kouya was almost never natural, so it was still weird for him.

"You're too kind." He said. "Now, if you would, play it from the beginning."

Shun did so, and was flattered to hear an ovation. Kouya didn't seem genuinely impressed, but he certainly was pleased with Shun. Not proud, more like amused. But Shun didn't know exactly what pride looked like anyway. Perhaps amused was the most proud people got. Pride wasn't a real thing anyway, and if it was, it was only for the fruits of your own labor, like Ten with his judo or Iwao with his shrine. So he blushed, but he didn't try to hide his face. He was happy. Genuinely. And it looked like Kouya was, too. He felt so glad, even though he had only completed the first line. If only he could spend forever like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this because I wanted Shun and Kouya to actually interact other than me just saying "they interacted" and spending more time on Soutarou because I love him but, I want Shun and Kouya to actually interact. this was very difficult and they are probably so ooc as well as everyone else in this fic I'm so sorry also that deal with the chapter being all "we should do this" and then the next chapter being "no we shouldn't" sorry about that too geez I should probably actually think through things??


	9. Nearing Nearing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally just made up everything about Ryo but apparently he does exist and he's Shun's father he might as well be an OC though lmao

"Where were you?" His father asked. He looked skeptical, but he wasn't really going to do anything major even if Shun was found to be going against what Iwao said. The punishment would be left to Iwao if that were the case. Right now he just looked kind of annoyed with his son's behavior. He was inconvenienced, Shun reasoned. There was something he had wanted done and Shun hadn't been there to assist in that. He was here now, but only after whatever chore it was had been completed. That was his guess. "Iwao said to keep a close eye on you." Ryo said, but that was more of an excuse than anything. "The dishes still haven't been done and we're about to eat. Your mother and I have been doing yard work all day."

How unfair. Why was he being blamed for this? It wasn't even his fault, he'd been off doing more important things, like... getting guitar lessons from Kouya. Maybe that wasn't really important, but it was important for his happiness. The older he got, the more responsibilities he was handed; if only he could stay young forever. But he didn't express his annoyance, it wasn't great enough to be expressed, it wasn't a big deal, really. "I'm sorry." He said. To be more polite, he could offer to try and do the dishes now by himself, but if there were a way out of that he would probably take it. So he didn't bring it up.

Ryo brought it up for him. "They have to be done, though." He stated sternly. "It's your responsibility, you're getting older now. Most kids your age don't even have to be asked to do the dishes. And after my father told you not to disappear like that. Really, you ought to be ashamed of yourself."

"I'm sorry." Shun responded meekly. It looked like he didn't really have a way around it, then. He looked to the floor in shame, though he didn't really feel as much shame as he did disappointment.

"No, it's fine." Ryo changed his mind. "I'm just a little annoyed is all. Had a long day and I'm really tired." He sighed. "You will, though, won't you?"

"Of course." He was obliged. They had to have something to eat on and eat with, obviously, for dinner, and no one else was going to do it, so it wasn't like he had a choice. There was no use being miffed with something so trivial as dishwashing. Gaku was going to be free, even if his hands were going to be broken. Soutarou was going to take care of him; he would be okay. Everything was going to be okay. That's what really mattered. So there was no reason to trouble himself with sadness or anger, especially over something small like this. He was sixteen anyway. He knew how to wash dishes, and he could wash them with relative ease. If it were something to be angry over, he might've had trouble putting out of his mind in celebration of Gaku's wellbeing. But it wasn't, so it was no problem. Why was he thinking about it so much anyway?

"Thank you." Ryo smiled as he exited the room, giving a slight wave to punctuate his absence. He looked exhausted somehow, as if he had been worrying about something serious. Shun chose to ignore that, lest he worry himself too.

Before he was able to go into the kitchen to begin his chore, someone else knocked on the door. For a moment he hoped it was Kouya, but obviously it wasn't. He had left Kouya and ended guitar lessons at about four or five-ish, saying he needed to eat dinner and also his family was probably wondering where he was. Kouya had looked hurt by that. He didn't show it very well, but Shun could tell. Kouya held no ill will towards him or anything, he was just jealous, and longed for a more peaceful time. He wished he hadn't said it. Kouya's life was sad.

"May I come in?" Asked someone beyond the door. Shun instantly recognized that voice as Ten's, his cousin. Why was he coming over? Probably for dinner, but he could just have dinner with his family, Shun's aunt and uncle. Perhaps they were all coming, and Shun just hadn't been told. He had been gone for a fairly large chunk of the day, so it was pretty likely that he was just absent when that news was being given. That was the most likely scenario, he decided. 

"Hello!" He opened the door, smiling in the way he always did, to find only Ten standing there. How surprising. Ten was a huge and very muscled beastman, with scars on his face he got while training when he failed to catch swords that fell on his face. Given his gargantuan size and Shun's minute one, it was hard to think that the two of them were related, and even harder to conceive that they were only two years apart, at that. The two of them looked nothing alike, despite being family.

"Hello, Shun." Ten said matter of factly, staring directly into Shun's eyes. He always did that when he talked to someone. He used to have serious trouble looking into people's eyes when he was talking, but now he had shifted in the complete opposite direction. He did so without thinking at this point. Coupled with his enormous size, Ten was just a really scary person. "I am here to deliver a letter to Ryo Kodori, from Iwao Kodori." He always had the same tone of voice: kind of stern but mostly just formal and boring. He didn't contract anything and he always got straight to the point. His words seemed to pierce anyone who wasn't prepared to deal with them; that's how intimidating he was.

"Not sure if I know anyone named Ryo Kodori." Shun joked. When Ten opened his mouth to object, Shun corrected himself. "I'm just kidding. It's just a joke."

"Oh." Ten looked kind of awkward just standing there. If you weren't used to him, he was probably really scary. He might even be angry looking, being deceived like that. But that was just how he always looked.

"DAD!" Shun turned behind him and called into the house. "Ten has a letter for you! From Grandpa!" Ten glanced at him with a somewhat shocked expression, but you could really only tell that if you knew him well. He was saying "you speak to your father that way?" even though such informal language had been commonplace for... forever, really. As long as informal language had existed. Ten was just on another level when it came to social custom.

"Shun, I /just/ sat down." Ryo sighed from another room. They could only hear his voice faintly. "Could he just take it to me?"

"DEFINITELY." Shun shouted to him. Probably too loud, judging by Ten's reaction. Oh well. Ten couldn't tell him what to do, especially judging by the way he didn't actually tell him anything. Life was too short to waste it worrying about what other people thought of you, so it was best to just discount them altogether, if it was something negative, unless there was no way around it. "So," he said, more quietly, not because Ten wanted it that way, but because shouting wasn't necessary now that he wasn't talking to someone far away. "Come on in." He made way for Ten to enter the residence.

"Thank you." Ten took one step inside and stopped there. He was like that.

"You can take your shoes off, if you want." Shun gestured to the shoe rack next to the door. That was probably why Ten hadn't moved anymore: he didn't want to dirty the house or anything with the bottoms of his shoes.

"Thank you." He said again, this time taking his shoes off. After that, he actually did go farther into the house, heading to where Ryo was. Shun followed him eagerly, excited to see exactly what this letter held. Because it was personally delivered, and by Ten of all people, it was obviously important.

Reasonably, the letter's importance was cause for concern. If he had been discovered conversing with Gaku, that could have disastrous consequences. Gaku was safe, he told himself, yes, they had figured out a way to keep him safe. Everything was going to be okay on that front. He had decided that, asserted it. So no worrying about that, he told himself. Yes, this letter wasn't going to say anything negative. He was sure of that. Why not be happy about it, then? Something of interest, and something that at least prolonged his time not doing chores! And Gaku wasn't in danger. So this letter was a good thing. To be personally delivered by Ten, though. That was something. Ten spend many of his days at the shrine, meditating or doing something else of religious purposes, so it could be assumed the letter was sent from there. Iwao of course ran the shrine, and it was from Iwao. Maybe it had to do with the shrine. Even if it did have to do with Gaku, which Shun told himself it probably didn't, it was nothing he couldn't find a way around. How much could Iwao even do at this point? If Gaku couldn't use his hands he couldn't do much, even if Iwao tried to incorporate some failsafe, like this could be.

Ryo was reclining in an armchair, facing the television, but it wasn't on. He wasn't watching it or doing anything at all, just facing it. He was just tired, and wanted to sit down a little. He wanted to sit down a lot, actually, and armchairs were perfect for that.

Ten handed the envelope to him. "This is from Iwao Kodori."

"Nice to see you, Ten." Ryo gave a little wave, and took the envelope. "Thank you."

"I am glad to be of assistance." He stood up straighter than he had been before, not paying attention as Shun tried to go around to the back of the armchair to read over his father's shoulder. Luckily Ryo didn't mind either. The letter was confidential, and while Ryo was a Kodori, he wasn't a super strict one. He seemed kind of out of place among Iwao's three children, the most laid back of the three. Which is not to say he was easy to live with, exactly.

There were two things in the envelope - a folded letter, hand written but on copy paper, and a small baggie that contained some sort of white powder. That was the poison, Shun supposed. It almost made him nervous but he caught himself. He couldn't go making himself scared like that; it didn't accomplish anything. He steeled himself as his father unfolded the letter.

Son,  
enclosed is a small amount of powder I require that you give to Shun tomorrow morning; he will need them then. Require that he carry them in the same plastic bag. Burn this letter as soon as possible, preferably as soon as you can. Tell Shun tomorrow, after he does his job, to please melt this bag if possible, and if not, to give it to a trusted family member as soon as possible to dispose of it in the proper way.

"Hm." Ryo's aura saddened. He didn't want to see his only son poisoned, even if he wasn't a very good son. He folded the letter back up. "Shun, go wash the dishes, please, and don't read over my shoulder again."

Shun obeyed wordlessly, but nodded to signify his understanding.

From the other room, "Ten, would you like to stay for dinner?"


	10. Fuck if I Know What to Title Every Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> now I'm writing this to cope with the presidential election and my upcoming birthday. I wish I had time.

There was no soccer practice that day, because practice was a little less frequent during summer break. Soutarou mind of wished he had an easy outlet of energy available, because he was currently feeling very energetic right now, so he decided he'd practice on his own, independent of any set practice schedule. Just in his backyard. There wasn't anybody to play with, since Shun went home to eat lunch, and then he was going to go to Kouya in the park for further guitar lessons, and Kyouji was probably studying, but that was okay. He busied himself trying to kick the ball as far as possible, first kickig it up with his foot, and then, with a great deal of force, away into the nearby wooded area. Most of the effort was involved in trying to find the ball in the woods and then retrieving it from thorn bushes or what have you, but that was okay. It was more interesting than doing nothing. He could always practice soccer like a normal person, dribbling or maybe trying to kick it precisely from certain places to other certain places or something, but he had already decided on doing this, so he was doing this, no matter how idiotic it probably was to a hypothetical spectator, or even himself. He chose not to be self-conscious about it.

There were more efficient ways, though. This was fun kind of, due to the varied locations where the ball would end up, but was it useful? Absolutely not. And he should be more concerned about what was useful, because he needed to be useful as a person. That's what made a person a good person: how much they were willing to do. Be it kindness or be it athletics, if you weren't of use in something, you weren't good at it. No one wants to consort with a poor player and no one wants to consort with a jerk. They were the same thing, fundamentally, just on different fields.

And because he wanted to be a good player, as in, a useful player, this was probably what he should not be doing. He could even call it actively detrimental, because occasionally he was getting cut by thorns, and pretty regularly he was being scratched. Shun was having too much influence on him, maybe. Shun was a nice and pure person, but he really just wasn't a good influence, he was too immature. So he wasn't good at life. He didn't think anything less of Shun for it, because then he'd be judgemental, but fun wasn't really the right thing for anyone. So he would stop kicking the ball aimlessly, he decided. For his own good.

It was off in the woods somewhere now, but he could see it. He had just kicked it, and its black and white pattern made it pretty easy to locate. There was nothing in nature that even close to resembled a soccer ball, luckily. It had landed in some shrubbery this time, but it wasn't very difficult to attain. There weren't any thorns in this part of the foliage, so there wasn't too much obvious to watch out for. He got it without much of a hitch, and walked back towards the yard part of his backyard, where there was grass and not woods everywhere. His house was on the corner of two streets, but one of the streets didn't really have much on it.

Kyouji was probably studying, wasn't he? He briefly considered bothering him, but decided against it. He was doing what he needed to do, whatever it was, so Soutarou would do what he should be doing. Which was probably also studying. But he chose soccer practice over that because it was more fun, and not to mention much simpler. They both culminated in the same goal, anyway. And that was a good career. Maybe it was unrealistic to hope of being a professional soccer player, but if he kept trying he couldn't be stopped. Not if he willed himself to surpass any obstacle. And that's what he was doing now. The current obstacle was his own physical weakness and lack of skill. So he was going to improve on that.

But by doing what exactly? He thought for a moment, and push-ups were all that came to mind but those were boring and he had all this time to do other better things. Now he probably should be doing plain physical exercises, but... Really, there was no way around it, he guessed. It didn't matter what he wanted, after all. It was what was most efficient that mattered.

Maybe Kyouji might want to do this stuff with him, though. And they could pass the ball back and forth. Kyouji was the best athlete the school had, so why not learn from the best? And he was right next door. If Kyouji was studying, he wouldn't bother him, because studying was useful for Kyouji's future, especially as a senior, but if he wasn't doing anything, well, he could alleviate that, he supposed. Kyouji wouldn't want to be bored either, obviously.

He walked across the street, carrying the ball under his arm, and knocked on the door in the least tentative way possible. "Is anyone home? This is Soutarou!" There were no cars in the driveway, so neither of Kyouji's parents were home. At least Soutarou assumed they weren't.

There was no response for a solid minute or so, leaving Soutarou standing out on the front porch conspicuously. Minasato was a small town and no one else was around, so no one could bring attention to it, luckily. He decided to knock again. "Hello?"

In just a few moments after the second time knocking, there was an audible fumbling at the door. It came open a second later, to reveal a very tired Kyouji. He looked like he had just been sleeping. His posture was slumped and tired, and he only looked vaguely aware of his surroundings. He wore a grey T-shirt an pajama pants; that was probably what he slept in. "Ah, hello Soutarou." He said, waving slightly. "Didn't expect to see you so early."

"It's past noon." He responded confusedly. This was unsettling, somehow. Kyouji was the type of person to do as much as he could, and he had just slept in. A lot.

"Ah, okay." He didn't seem to have something to say other than that; he was still getting used to his surroundings, it looked like.

Soutarou took the initiative to say something. "Did I wake you?" He was kind of worried about that. Sleeping in sure looked like a lazy thing to do, but really, it probably had many benefits. Kyouji needed rest, after all, and summer break was the perfect time to catch up on that. It was perfectly reasonable.

"What?" He didn't understand for a moment. "Ah, no. I woke up about... ten minutes ago. But I'm still tired." He yawned, to signify that, but he also just needed to yawn. Convenient.

"Sorry for disturbing you so early, then." Soutarou tried to amend himself. He didn't know why he didn't expect this - it had happened plenty of times before, Kyouji sleeping in. But it was always different face to face. It was most efficient for Kyouji, he supposed. If he stayed up all night studying, he had to catch up on sleep. Poor Kyouji had to run on so little sleep, it was no wonder he would take advantage of any opportunity he had to sleep. So resting was the most efficient for him to do right then. If Soutarou was that overworked, he should rest too. He made a mental note to get to that stage in life. One day he would be as great as Kyouji. At anything, but preferably anything. Until that day came he would certainly try.

"Ah, no, it's fine." Kyouji assured him sleepily. "Uh.. what did you want me for?" He leaned against the edge of the doorway a moment before correcting himself, and stepping backwards, standing up straight. "First though, please come in. Take your shoes off at the door."

He did exactly that. Kyouji's house was tidy and ideal looking. It was anyone's vision of a normal house, from the white carpets to the white walls, and the family photos and clean decorations and all that. The furniture was wooden and stood out well against the carpet. Whoever designed the layout, Kyouji's mother, probably, wasn't very original; she wanted to set a reputation, it looked like. This was how a friend's house looked when they were expecting you, after everything was cleaned, except it looked like this all the time. Soutarou knew that from experience. Kyouji shut the door behind him. The interior the house was pleasantly cool, much cooler than the heat of the outside, which Soutarou hadn't even noticed a moment ago.

"I was wondering if you wanted to practice soccer with me." Soutarou said, spinning the ball. "I don't think you would though, since you just woke up. You probably need to do other things first." He didn't want to be rude, so he didn't gesture or anything, but he was referring to Kyouji's pajamas. He probably needed to eat breakfast too. It was the most important meal of the day. Or... it was lunch now, wasn't it?

"Ah, okay." Kyouji tried to get his wits about him. "Yes, I can do that."

"Eat breakfast, er lunch and all that?" He wasn't sure Kyouji was awake enough to know what he was saying.

"Ah, that too." He began to walk to the kitchen, putting too much effort into standing up straight.

"I can make it." Soutarou offered. "And coffee, if you want it. You seem kinda tired. That could wake you up a bit. If you want it." He followed him, and tried to get in front of him, so he could make whatever food needed to be made. And he needed to eat, too. It was Kyouji's kitchen, but he knew how to cook. He could cook really well, in fact. His mother was always working, so he had to learn, or else he wouldn't have eaten. He always made dinner for the two of them when she got home.

"No, it's fine. I got it." Kyouji tried to say.

"No, let me. I can cook."

"I know. But it's really fine."

"I can do it."

"I know, but it would just be better if-"

"Kyouji, you just woke up. Don't busy yourself. At least let me make you coffee." He stared into Kyouji's sleepy eyes, full of determination. He would be of use, right here and right now. He could help Kyouji, who was so overworked and stressed, even if it was something minor like this. Kyouji deserved to have food prepared for him, at least this one time.

"Soutarou," Kyouji looked like he was considering saying something, but didn't. "Thank you." He sat down, looking defeated, and somewhere inside, he felt guilty, for some reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If Kyouji gets a stand, I'm tempted to call it Dawn, after that Wolfgun song, but I've already decided that protagonist stands are all going to be from the Morenatsu OST. Kouya's is Feel Free, if he gets one. Torahiko's is Morenatsu, if he appears and also gets one. Shin's would be Left Alone. Shun's is Cuty, obviously.
> 
> Also please be aware if you aren't already I haven't proofread anything AT ALL so far so if it makes no sense or is just full of mistakes, that's why


	11. Coffee

Soutarou had placed his soccer ball in the corner of the kitchen inconspicuously, so he could make lunch for Kyouji and himself. He didn't plan to prepare much for lunch, just simple things, because while he was here often, this wasn't his house, and he didn't want to take lots of food. Most of it would be Kyouji's to eat, and he did live here, but that would still be rude, somehow. Kyouji was resting his head in his crossed arms on the table most of the time Soutarou was doing this. It was noon but he had been up late last night doing something important, and it would be best not to disturb him. That would be rude also. Kyouji more than anyone deserved respect; he was the most upstanding person Soutarou knew, by a pretty good distance. He had it all: popularity, athletic ability, intelligence and grades, work ethic, and most of all, compassion. He hardly allowed a moment to himself. It was understandably very taxing on him, especially because he was so young, but with his kind heart, he managed it. Somehow. Soutarou always marveled at that. He wanted to be like that one day, and maybe free Kyouji of some that responsibility. He didn't deserve to everyone else's problems pushed onto him so incessantly.

He made the coffee first, for Kyouji only, because he didn't drink coffee. Kyouji only drank it because he needed it to function with all of his work, but it was supposedly unhealthy for you. Kyouji kept promising that he'd break that habit eventually, and he probably should, but sometimes, you just deserved a cup of coffee, especially if you were Kyouji. Kyouji deserved everything good.

It only took about two minutes to make, and after that was done, he took the cup and set it in front of Kyouji. A courting gift. Er, just a regular gift. No, more like a favor. No need to flatter himself. They were friends, and friends did give each other gifts sometimes, favors were much more frequent, but it was a favor in the form of a gift, even though Kyouji already owned it. So definitely a favor then. Aside from that, he decided he would make sandwiches for them to eat.

Kyouji briefly lifted his head up, to look at the cup placed in front of him. He pondered it briefly, and then took it with both hands. His hair was messy and eyes were bleary, but he still looked perfect somehow. That was the aura about him. He drank it slowly, and then after a few sips turned to Soutarou. He waited a moment, and then said "thank you. Thank you so much.." His voice was needlessly gracious, he seemed to mean that with every cell of his body, even though this was something as insignificant as making a cup of coffee, because that's exactly what it was. He was tired; maybe that was it. But there really was something deep about him, for a few moments. He was overjoyed, but was too tired to express it. That's how he looked.

"You're welcome." Soutarou responded. He was also pretty joyful, Kyouji liking his favor so much. He tried to keep humble, though. "But it's just coffee. It's not really anythin' major."

"Yes, I know." Kyouji set it back on the table, after taking a few more sips. He rested his head on one hand. "But thank you anyway. It's very appreciated."

"Thank you too." Soutarou couldn't help but smile. He was already smiling, but now it was spreading to where the corners of his mouth kind of hurt. There was purity in this moment, somehow. He was helping. He was actually helping, he wasn't doing much but he was helping Kyouji, the person he wanted to help most of all, who needed the most help. Though Shun needed A LOT of help right now, like a ridiculous amount. And.. he was helping with that too! He had never been more useful, this could very well be the best day of his life so far, he decided. He was taking a stand and being of assistance; he was being a good person. Kyouji was happy right now, and Shun would have no reason to worry soon. Everything was right in the world.

But that reminded him. "Soon I'm helpin' Shun with somethin' really big!" He brought up as he went to search the fridge for lunchmeat and lettuce and whatnot to make sandwiches with.

"What is it?" Kyouji instinctively asked.

"Well, you'll never believe this," he struggled to look for the best way to state it, "but the Kodori family, they have these powers called stands, that they all inherited, but they can also be given to you by this magic arrow Shun's grandfather has. His name is Iwao. But because-"

"I'm sorry, what?" Kyouji turned to him, his expression of gratitude quickly fading into one of confusion. "Stands? Is that some religious thing?"

"Well, probably." He admitted. "But it's more of like, a superpower. Iwao can summon a dragon made of water. He has the power to manipulate that water freely, like changing its temperature and stuff. It's pretty scary."

"Is this a ritual?" Kyouji asked. He took another sip of coffee. He was waking up now, but he was still struggling to believe this. He wasn't a particularly skeptical person, but this probably was kind of hard to believe.

"No, not really. Or at least I don't think so." Soutarou thought for a moment. "It could be part of it, but the way it was presented to me it didn't really seem like that. It's like a superpower. Iwao can summon a dragon made of water."

"And it's real?"

"Yes."

"And you believed this?"

That kind of hurt. Perhaps he was too gullible. But Shun was really bent out of shape about it. He wanted to defend himself, but before he could, Kyouji revised his statement. "Sorry, that was rude of me." He said. "What caused you to believe this, is what I should have said. No offense, but it does all sound awfully far fetched, though you're probably already aware of that."

"No, it's fine." Soutarou assured him. "Yeah, I guess it does sound pretty hard to believe, doesn't it? I mean, real life superpowers. That's kind of crazy, ain't it?" He waited a moment before going on. How best to present this? "But like, Shun was really worried this morning, and I couldn't tell what he was so worried about, 'cause he wouldn't tell me. Eventually he just kinda gave out, though, and he told me to call his cousin, who lives in Kazenari, I think, his name's Gaku."

"Is he the disowned one?" Kyouji asked.

Soutarou nodded uncomfortably. "I don't know what he did, but Shun still likes him, so he's good with me. Shun's family is really messed up, so I'm not even really sure he done anythin'. Did anything, I mean. He was just kinda cast off. But now, I think he was tryin' to get a little too involved in family affaris or somethin', and Iwao is tryin' to kill him or have him arrested or something else drastic." He paused for comment, to let Kyouji soak up the severity of the situation.

"That's pretty intense." He said, looking kind of forlorn. "But you said you're going to help?"

"Yes!" He could feel the smile coming back to his face, proud of his achievement. "Somehow, Shun and him managed to find a way around Iwao's plot that won't make it look like Shun warned him, because that's a big thing they're tryin' to avoid. But it involved breaking Gaku's hands. And since you can't really take care of yourself without using your hands, my mom and me are gonna take Gaku in for a bit and help him not die until his hands heal!" He was so useful, certainly becoming a better person. This is what Kyouji would have done, he knew.

Kyouji looked kind of shocked, though, like he didn't know how to feel. He was a mix of proud and disappointed. But he quickly aligned himself, into his normal smiling mood. He was waking up more, after all, with the coffee. Or at least he was starting to wake up more. "Well, good for Gaku." He said. "And thank you for helping him. I'm sure he thanks you too. I'm not fully up to speed on the situation exactly, but it sounds like, without your assistance, he would inevitably be in a pretty bad juncture."

Soutarou didn't know how to respond to that. Had he... done something wrong? "Ah, it's nothing." He said. But he knew he was doing the right thing just moments ago; why did Kyouji look like that?

"It's just that..." Kyouji began to say. An explanation. "I'm not sure you'd be able to handle it. Nothing against you, but taking care of someone who can't use their hands would keep you very busy. I'm sure he'd find ways to work around his disability, but I don't want you to get burnt out worrying over someone so much."

"No, it's fine, really!" Soutarou argued. "I can handle it. I just want to be of use, and finally, I can help with something! This is my opportunity to grow up and help people." He wanted to be like Kyouji, exactly like Kyouji. He could handle it, though. He was so young, and was already pretty capable. It wasn't hard to imagine what he could do if he just put all his efforts into improving. That's what he was doing now, wasn't it? He was helping Gaku, someone who desperately needed help. If he wasn't there, Gaku would have nowhere to go.

"I understand." Kyouji sighed, but not in any discernible way. He had picked up on how to read Kyouji over the years, but sometimes, he was still kind of difficult. He always looked happy, but mostly he was stressed. He didn't really seem like he was disappointed in him, more like he was disappointed in himself. He looked guilty, behind that pleasant expression.

"He would have no where to go if it weren't for me." He went on. "He can't do much without the use of his hands, and the hospital can't just keep him there because he's crippled. If no one were there to help him while his hands recovered, what would he do? I can't just let him starve." He was doing the right thing here, he knew. If not for himself, then for Gaku. He liked feeling useful, but he needed to put that feeling aside, and focus on actually being of use to people instead of just basking in the pride of being useful to people.

"I know." Kyouji said. "Sorry, I just was feeling kind of sad, is all. At his condition. I know you want to stay humble, but no one could thank you enough for taking him in." Did he mean that? It was hard to tell.

Instead of trying to pass off Kyouji's compliment, because that would be rude, Soutarou accepted it. "Okay. And hey, look me in the eye." Kyouji did. "There's no reason to be sorry." He thought he could see Kyouji's eyes watering. He was so gracious, right now, so happy for whatever reason. "I'm going to start cooking lunch, then."

"Okay." Kyouji drank a few more sips of coffee. Soutarou could sense something within him was melting, like he had just had some minor revelation that actually wasn't even a relevation. "Thank you for this. I just, I really can't thank you enough..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't proofread anything so far so. that's why. it's bad. or that's part of why. also I planned for the whole Gaku event to be in like chapter six or something but then I realized he could break his hands (breaking your hands is not a thing but I'm going to keep pretending it is) and kinda avoid this scenario. or he could damage them somehow, or burn them, but heavy object breaking some hand bones is the easiest way around. so now it's chapter 11 and I'm really drawing out this one day if the Gaku event doesn't come by chapter sixteen I will probably pull something extreme involving Ten. I could just like, write a lot more per chapter but.. I'm lazy, and therefore won't.


	12. A Good Title For This Chapter Preferably A Pun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ryo is not an OC; that's his actual name, in the game, but he doesn't appear, so he might as well be an OC. His stand is Lakes.
> 
> Kyo, his wife, is definitely an OC. She's unnamed in the game, and doesn't appear, but, here she is. Her stand is Trespassers W.

"Ten, would you pass the salt." Ryo motioned towards him, just to make sure he was listening. Ten was always listening, to everything, constantly. He didn't need to do that.

The dishes had been washed, and dinner had been made. Shun's hands felt cold still, but he was warming up slowly. The four of them sat at the table now: his mother, his father, himself, and Ten, who had politely accepted the invitation to stay for dinner. It was probably in his code of honor not to decline an invitation, especially from family. The Kodori family tree was a little weird, but Iwao had three children: two sons and one daughter. One of the sons was Ryo, and other son was Ten's father. The daughter was Gaku's mother, though she didn't really consider herself that now.

"Of course." Ten passed the salt, that same intimidating look on his face that he always had. He didn't say anything, he just passed it, but Shun's mother sneezed right in the middle of him passing it, her hand reflexively knocking the salt out of his. It spilled all over the tablecloth, but didn't really get on anything. He didn't really make any reaction to it, just stared, disappointed in her and everyone else present. Stoically disappointed. He thought everyone should be more stoic. And more disappointed in everything, including this. There was salt all over the place now.

"I'm so sorry!" She immediately cried out. "I can solve this, though, don't worry." Kyo Kodori's stand was called Trespassers W, and, although she was not trained from birth to use it, it could be incredibly scary. But more importantly, it was also very useful for cleaning. Anything that had come out of its previous container could be put into another, created by Trespassers W, and all the rest of the material still in its previous container would follow. This could be used to fire bullets in scarily rapid succession, or, even more frightening, take all the blood out of anyone who was bleeding, but it was also very useful for sweeping and laundry and things where it was useful to put everything all at once in another container. A container could be an actual container, or "the floor", as long as something had been removed from it. She couldn't do broader areas, but she didn't really need to. Iwao pestered her about it, but she practiced enough to the point where, if a situation called for it, she could kill an invader, which was his main concern, for some reason.

So all the salt was placed in another container, this one sealed off at the top. "Thank you." Ten said. He obviously wanted to bow in display of gratitude, but he was sitting, so it was kind of hard to do. He just forwent the activity. It was closed off at the top, and therefore unusable, but he didn't call attention to that. That would be rude; Kyo was his honorable host. But Ryo did ask for the salt to be passed, and he had to fill that request too, didn't he? Who was it worse to disrespect? What should he do here? He didn't let his struggle show, but that's what he was thinking.

Ryo didn't mention it either. He would just eat his food unsalted; it didn't really matter all that much. Kyo cooked the meal anyway. Maybe she didn't want it to be salted. Shun could tell he was getting angry for just a moment, but he calmed down quickly. That was Ryo's talent: getting worked up over nothing but not expressing his anger and then pushing it aside and eventually forgetting about it.

Shun kept worrying, wondering when they were going to bring it up, or if they were going to mention it at all. There was no reason to worry, because Gaku was obviously going to be safe, with the plan the two of them formulated, he had probably already even broken his hands, but the thought was lingering in the back of his mind. They were definitely going to discuss that at dinner. They had just started eating; there was plenty of time for it to come up naturally, and even if it didn't, it would still be discussed. He rested assured, however, that the plan he and Gaku had created together was foolproof. There was no other incriminatory activity Gaku could be forced into doing without the use of his hands, and even if there was, the big thing, the tea making, was already made impossible. Gaku would be safe, there was no way around it. There was nothing Iwao could plot, nothing he could do, that would incriminate Gaku. So why worry about it? That's right, it was pointless, wasn't it? There was no use stressing over it if Gaku's fate was already secured as free, damaged, but ultimately free. Not in jail.

"So," Ryo said, instead of eating his unsalted food, because he had apparently decided he would wait until salt was available, "Iwao said you're going to Kazenari tomorrow? To visit... him?" He wouldn't say the name, it was like a taboo almost. They all knew that Shun visited Gaku, fairly frequently, even, but only Iwao acknowledged it. He typically acknowledged it with punishment, but nothing ever changed, so he was now exploiting Shun's unregulated travels. Devious.

Shun nodded. He could tell his father disapproved, but if he lived for the approval of his father, his life would be boring and generally unfun. Devoid of any meaning, in other words. He would become like Ten, and Ten had no enjoyment at all, in any aspect of life. He did things because it was 'right' or whatever, not what was ideal. And there was no point in living if you were going to be stuck up like that.

"And Iwao says you're doing something of great importance." Ryo went on. "Is that true?"

"Wait what's he doing?" Kyo interjected. "Why haven't I been told?" She looked vaguely worried but mostly excited. Her son was about to make her proud, she was thinking. She couldn't wait. Her eagerness was a little unnerving, but Shun ignored.

"He's arresting the exiled one." Ten explained solemnly. "Or rather, Iwao Kodori and Shun Kodori are working together to frame him. Shun is going to have to poison himself, but it will look like Gaku is the one who poisoned him, the way the scenario will be presented to law enforcement." Shun didn't even blink at Ten's explanation, he had already accepted it. He didn't acknowledge it all; perhaps that was a bad thing. He was completely detached from those words, already sure that they would not come to pass. He made sure of that. There was no reason to stress over it now. Why exist stressed when you could exist carefree?

"Does he really have to be poisoned?" Kyo became worried. Hypocrite, Shun wanted to call her. She had no qualms with any other of Iwao's unnecessary punishments. Not that he wanted to be poisoned, but he would take it any day over being worked to exhaustion. But even thought she was a hypocrite and expressed no actual concern for his safety he loved her. It was pointless not too. It was amusing to see her get worked up over this, though. Amusing but mostly frustrating.

"It's already been set in motion I think." Ryo said. "So yeah." He leaned back slightly, frustrated. "I don't really know what's happening either, honey, but it's under control. We just have to trust Shun on this, and trust Dad too." He paused a moment, to let his wife try to soak that up, but before she could say anything, he began speaking again. "If we can get that guy away from our kid, really, anything's worth it, isn't it? We can't stop Shun, and we know, because we've tried, we all have, so this is the only way. A few days with an upset stomach is much better than letting that kind of influence persist any longer."

Kyo shrugged. "Yeah. I suppose so."

Shun didn't trouble himself with their words, or thinking about it. He knew how they thought of Gaku. But he couldn't help but feel unease growing in his stomach. Gaku was hardly even seen as a person by them - maybe they didn't even consider him that. He was just an obstacle, some negative liberal influence that needed to be relinquished. Just the way they addressed him was awful; they didn't even say his name. If he didn't know better, he might've objected to that. But, no matter how weak he was, he wasn't an idiot. Maybe if they were talking about him, it would be easy to ignore, but it was Gaku, who wasn't even here. He wanted to ignore it, but it was difficult. Gaku would be okay, he assured himself. Gaku would be okay. They couldn't hurt him - no actually, they could, they broke his hands, indirectly. But they could never imprison him. He was safe from that.

"So, Shun." Ryo leaned forward again, and looked him in the eye. It was very disquieting, but he tried not to let it get to him. "How are you feeling about this? Don't be nervous to poison yourself, I know it'll hurt, but it's for your own good, and the greater good of all of us. I already thank you and I'll do it again after all this is over and done with. You're doing us a great favor, you know."

"I know." He lied. How could his father speak like that? Did he even know who Gaku was?

"You haven't eaten any." Kyo commented, to Shun, perhaps to change the subject.

Looking down, he hadn't. He didn't even realize. Ryo hadn't eaten anything either, but that was Ryo, so it was okay for him to do that. He was just too nervous to eat, he couldn't bring himself to. His stomach was hurting, maybe already feeling the poison Iwao had given him. Even though he would never have to ingest it because it would all be okay. Everything would be okay, he told himself. Yes, that was right; there was no reason to be worried. Then why did his stomach hurt like this? "I'm just not hungry." He said. It wasn't a complete lie, he guessed.

"You nervous?" Ryo asked sympathetically. He was expressing genuine concern, despite the fact that he was agreeing to have his own son poisoned tomorrow.

But telling the truth here wouldn't harm exactly. "Yeah." He admitted. He wasn't nervous about what they presumably thought he was nervous about, but he was still pretty nervous. He knew Gaku would be completely okay, but he still felt thoughts of despair creeping into his mind. "I... can I dismiss myself from the table?" He asked, but he was already standing to go do so.

Kyo nodded. "Of course. And Shun!" She called as he was exiting the door to the living room.

"Yes?" He paused a moment and turned around.

"We all love you so much and are very proud of you." She meant it too, which was the scary thing. A mother should love her son, maybe even enough to poison him for his own ultimate good, but not just to imprison someone. It wasn't in her power, but he wished the plan had required consent on his part.

"Thank you." He smiled, trying to make it look genuine. He did love them, but... not enough to imprison Gaku for them. It would all be okay, he told himself. It would all be okay, Gaku would be okay, they found a way around it, everything would be okay. Gaku would be safe and everything would be okay. He climbed the stairs, telling himself that. He sat on the floor of his room, telling himself that.

He felt himself staring at his computer. He wasn't allowed to play games more than so often every day, but no one would know, if he wore headphones. He just wanted an escape. It would all be okay, but he wanted an escape anyway. Something to pass the time until his stomach stopped hurting. Tomorrow, he would see Gaku and have a jolly old time. And right now, he would ignore that and play video games. There was no better life, having no worries like this. He was so glad he was able to be happy all the time like this. That's what made living worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took three days to write because birthday things have been happening also my cat says hi
> 
> and  
> the main problem in Shun's route is how easily he is able to completely fucking ignore all his very real problems so I'd like to argue this is in character but I'm sorry if this feels extreme or whatever it probably is


	13. Hey Everyone Look at my OC She's Soutarou's Mom and Everyone Loves Her She Has No Faults None. None At All.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna give Kyouji parents too. Don't know their names yet though. Also Kounosuke's Mom is getting a name.

Soutarou already had food on the table when his mother came in, luckily. His mother was always tired when she came home, and didn't have the energy to cook. She hardly had the energy to do anything, in fact. Her hours were always long and she was tragically underpaid. She worked as a secretary in Kazenari, and she was always having to deal with people and keep track of everything, for relatively little pay. She deserved to be cooked for when she got home. It was the least Soutarou could do, after she raised him and all. She was still raising him, even, even though she wasn't always there. Her absence weighed no effect on her character; she was one of the kindest people Soutarou knew, though he wished she would take a day off every now then. For her sake, but he also couldn't deny he wanted to spend more time with her too. She didn't deserve to be troubled by him, though, so he tried to cause as little trouble as possible. And help wherever he could, like cooking and cleaning. He had made chicken stirfry for dinner tonight, for both of them. All by himself.

One day he would have someone else to cook for him, he often dreamed about. It was selfish, but part of him wanted to be relinquished of that vital responsibility of putting food on the table. Besides, he liked cooking, he would always persuade himself, there was no reason to have someone else do it for him. And cooking for other people was nice, too. He delighted to see other people's reactions to his creations. They rarely spoke gratitude, but that didn't matter so much. Kyouji had expressed thanks, and that was enough. He always did but today he meant it from the bottom of his heart. He felt useful for once; that was enough.

"What's this?" His mother threw her coat down on the floor instead of on the rack where it should have gone. She always did that. She always picked it up later, after supper. She always came home to supper. "Chicken stirfry?"

Soutarou nodded. "I made it myself."

"Yes, I know." She pulled out her chair and sat down. "Who else would have made it? Thanks though." Rin Touno was one of those perpetually tired people - and she had to work through all of it. Three years ago she had to completely give up her old life and start almost from scratch on the other side of the world. It was understandably very taxing, but she could work through any hardship. It wasn't determination but survival instinct. She had to lead the best life possible for her son, set a fine example for him. She tried her best to be there but sometimes she just couldn't. When you had to choose between time apart but fed and time together starving sometimes time apart was the better option. If she hadn't had to start over maybe her finances wouldn't be in such poor shape but she did, and money was scarce.

He was thanked! Soutarou couldn't help but smile. He didn't want to get arrogant, after being thanked twice in the same day (once by someone who meant it more than words could describe, for whatever deep reason that was), but he was definitely made happy by the gratitude of his loved ones. "Welcome." He said. He could be even more useful, since he hadn't fixed anything to drink yet. "Do you want water? Or milk?" That was all there was to drink in the Touno residence, but it didn't really matter.

"Water." She said, picking up her fork and beginning to eat. Although they were Japanese, they still used Western cutlery. It was just habit at this point, though it was probably conspicuous. They both knew how to use chopsticks, but this was what they had, and therefore used.

"With ice?" He asked.

"No thanks, I'm fine without." She said while eating. It wasn't super polite, but the food was good and she didn't really want to stop eating it just to speak.

Soutarou took it as a compliment. Don't let all this go to your head, he told himself, but there really wasn't much to go to his head in the first place, so it was probably okay. It wasn't wrong to feel accomplished; he just needed to not get used to it so that he could keep striving to be more accomplished and useful, and in general a more pleasant person than all his past selves had been. He needed to keep improving at everything in life, even if it was just cooking. There was a quote about taking as much pride in the little things as you did in important things but he couldn't remember it off the top of his head.

He prepared the water, and handed it to her. As he went to get himself a cup, he decided to mention today's exploits. Perhaps it was best to paraphrase though. His mother didn't really like news, if it was big and bad, and if something even tried to alter her worldview, she would likely rebel against it. She was already overworked and underpaid; she didn't need some big shake up in her life. But she could manage if someone really needed her help, right? Someone who literally had no other choice. She just didn't need to know about all the magic behind it, the things that would shake her worldview and make her annoyed with reality and her weak disposition. "You know my friend Shun, right?"

"Of course." She responded. "I've met him plenty of times. "Short wolf guy. Inbred but he pretends he doesn't know what that means and no one says it around him. I think that's why he's so slow. I mean, he's two years older than you and way less mature."

He didn't want to make this into an argument but Shun didn't deserve to be talked about like that. "Just because he's not mature doesn't mean he's-"

"Yeah, I know, I know. Sorry." Rin swallowed her mouthful. "I'm just tired. It's not like I don't like him, he's just a kinda childish guy, ain't he?"

Soutarou shrugged. "I guess. But his cousin, he's disowned from the family and needs a place to stay, so can we please take him in?" It was perhaps too sudden to suggest that, but Gaku needed his help. Badly. Even if she said no, he would find a way. Gaku couldn't take care of himself without the use of his hands; he couldn't survive alone; Soutarou had no other choice but to help him. He wanted to, even. He was useful, and Gaku was relying on that.

She stared at him, puzzled for a moment. "Disowned from the family?"

He nodded. "I think it's his liberal ideology or something. The Kodoris are really conservative." Somehow that felt like a lie, even though it wasn't. That was his best and most reasonable guess as to why Gaku was in the position he was in. It was either that or something Stand related, but he couldn't think of what, and besides, his mother didn't need to know about magic. It was best she not be involved.

"Well," Rin visibly thought it over for a moment. "I feel bad for him, but he ain't livin' at our place." When she saw her son's disappointed expression, she elaborated. "We barely have enough money for the both of us. I suppose we got space, but I can't just let this person I've never met eat up all our savings. Who knows how long he's going to be staying here? Until he finds another place? How long will that be?"

"Until his hands recover." He said. "He broke his hands, that's why he can't stay at his apartment. He can't do much without his hands, someone needs to care for him while he's recovering. Then he can just go back to his old apartment and take care of himself again." She couldn't really argue with that, could she? She had sympathy, and certainly someone with broken hands was deserving of that sympathy. He couldn't take care of himself by himself; he absolutely needed Soutarou's help. His mother couldn't argue against that.

"How long does it take for hands to recover from bein' broken?" She asked.

Soutarou shrugged. "I actually don't know, but I don't think it'll be longer than three months. And his hands don't need to recover fully before he goes back to his own place again - just enough to take care of himself. A person can't do much of anything without use of their hands, unless their used to use. Gaku had control of his hands for all his life; them being taken away from him would be devastating.

"And who do you propose is gonna take care of him? 'Cause I sure ain't." Her tone was becoming more caustic now. It wasn't like she didn't have a heart; she just wasn't willing to let a stranger live in her house for some two or three months, which was reasonable. She was busy enough without having an extra person to not just take care of, but wait on hand and foot.

"I will." Soutarou offered, like it was obvious. No, it was obvious. She should've figured that out, anyway. If she was out working all day, and Soutarou was at home, of course Soutarou was going to be the one to take care of Gaku. He was perfectly willing, too. This was his opportunity to feel important, to care for someone like this, and help them in every way. He liked being useful, and this was the perfect way to put that disposition to use. Gaku needed help, and Soutarou was offering it. She couldn't say no.

"No." She said.

"But-"

"Listen, I know you're just trying to help, but that kind of thing, believe me, is very draining." She paused for a moment, to hear an interjection, but Soutarou was too polite to interrupt. So she went on. "I've raised a baby, I know what it's like to wait on someone hand and foot. I doubt this disowned cousin of Shun's will be as much trouble as a baby, but he also has more needs than a baby, and won't be wearing a diaper or anything. You mean well, but you don't know what you're getting into. I know you're just trying to help, believe me, honey, I know, but there are better ways to go about this. You don't need to sacrifice all your free time to someone, no matter how badly they need it."

He let those words sit for a little, but he was still argumentative. Did she have no sympathy? "I'll be fine!" He assured her. "I can handle it! Where do you want him to go, what do you expect him to do? He has nowhere to turn to, his family freaking disowned him so Shun take care of him, there's nowhere for him to go but here. I'm the only one who can help him!" He didn't want to sound rude, but this was a dire situation. Gaku's fate and livelihood hung in the balance. He had to do this, if not for his own person dream of being useful, for Gaku's safety. His foolish hopes didn't matter anyway. What was Gaku going to do? What could he do?

"Well," Rin said. "Let's take a step back here." She took another bite of stirfry. "You can't take care of him, that'll be too draining for you. But maybe you can split the responsibility. What's your friend's name, the black cat with lots of money?"

"Shin?" Soutarou asked. He... hadn't even considered asking others for help. But that would defeat the point. No, no it wouldn't, because the point was just to ensure Gaku's safety. He had to remind himself of that. Gaku just needed somewhere to turn. He could still help, but maybe split the responsibility? But who would be willing? Certainly not Shin, because he was a jerk. "Shin would never help Gaku though."

"Doesn't he have a butler?" Rin asked.

"I mean, yeah. I don't see what that has to do with this-"

"That guy's job is to wait on somebody hand and foot. He can handle it." She proposed. "Your forces and his combined together. Neither of you will be too drained from it, and he's a professional. Shun's weird cousin is safe and everyone's happy. Problem solved."

"Yeah..." He supposed that could work. But he still had to go ask. It wasn't so bad of an idea really, as long as Amaki consented to it...


	14. Rin Touno Insults Shin

"You want what?" Shin didn't mean it as a question, but rather an insult to Soutarou, to highlight how stupid it sounded to him. He was standing in the doorway, kind of slouching naturally into the doorframe, even if that sounded impossible, it fit him somehow, like he had practice falling asleep in awkward positions like that. He was a natural. But despite his comfortability, his gaze was still cold and his words were still scrutinizing, almost as if he spent a good half of his social moments berating others, because that's exactly what he did. Admittedly, a request to house someone you didn't know would be startling and uncomfortable for anyone, but Shin was by nature cruel. Letting someone live in his house, and be waited on by largely his butler, was assuredly going to be taxing for him, even if he wasn't actually doing anything but tolerating the presence of someone. His selfish nature would never allow that to pass, not under his own roof. He barely tolerated the presence of his friends, much less strangers.

"We said it in plain English. Japanese." Rin said. She had come along to ensure that the process went well. She had raised Soutarou, she knew him well enough to recognize he would never give up on something like this, especially since someone else's wellbeing was involved. It had seemed like a good idea at first, too, to have Shin host Gaku while he couldn't use his hands, because Shin had a big house and a big fortune and a butler, surely he would be even slightly generous enough to help someone in need.

"I asked in plain Japanese for you to repeat it." Shin looked her dead in the eyes. Maybe he just didn't like the presence of someone he didn't know, Soutarou thought. He was an asshole normally, but this was kind of a new low, disrespecting an adult. Maybe he thought because she wasn't in a position of power over him he didn't have to respect her.

"Now listen here you skinny ass feline son of a-"

"We're askin'," Soutarou interrupted her before she could do any more damage (Shin had already tensed and prepared to flee) "for you to please take care of Shun's cousin, Gaku, until his hands recover. He's broken them and can't take care of himself on his own but the Kodoris disowned him, and it would just be too much of a hassle for us. I'll help lots, and come over as often as I can to help, but you have a big house and money to spare, and on top of that, a butler, and we got none of those things, so please help? It's not much, he'll just be staying here, I'll help as much as I can, I promise." He forced himself to smile, even though he was scared of further conflict. He hoped neither Shin nor his mother said anything derogatory. And even more than that he hoped Shin would lend a hand in this grave matter.

For a moment, all was silent while Shin considered this. "You can't break your hands, halfwit. There's 27 bones in each unless you shattered all of them your hands would still be mostly functional." He turned away, to avoid Rin's gaze, but he tried to make it look like he wasn't afraid of her. Maybe he wouldn't be as rude now that there was threat of violence, though.

"This guy broke all of them." She stepped in. "At least enough to where he can't do much with his hands." She couldn't lock eyes with him to glare, but she could still glare, and she used that power as best she could.

Maybe it was threat of violence, or maybe Shin just deep down had a kinder heart than anyone realized, but he stood up fully after that. "Wait here. I'm going to go ask Amaki." He disappeared into the house after that, his tail kind of stiff behind him.

After he was out of hearing distance, Rin stopped glaring. Her face was more relaxed, but still annoyed. After a long day at work she had come home to Soutarou, someone she loved to come home to, but then there was this ridiculous business of Shun's disowned cousin who somehow broke his hands despite the fact that you can't really break your hands, and he wasn't going to live under her roof and occupy her son all day long doing stuff needing to do things like bathe, and her son is not going to bathe a grown ass man who he did not know at all, no matter how incapable he was of doing it himself, and here was this other guy, who could definitely take care of him, but he was being an asshole and actually called her son an idiot, to his face, and Soutarou should be able to hang out with whoever he wants to, but some people are just assholes and don't deserve the attention friends gave them, and much less deserve such a privliged life in a big house with a fucking butler and an actual present father presumably. "Can you believe this guy?" She muttered to Soutarou.

He felt the obligation to shake his head, but all he let out was a nervous smile. "Shin's just like that." He said. He looked off into the distance, beyond the doorway. There was a cool light coming from inside, not exactly welcoming, but not hostile in nature either. The door led into the living room, but he couldn't see anyone inside. Shin had gone somewhere else, and not yelled or anything to hasten his search. Reasonably, why would he, if he didn't want to see Rin again? "He didn't mean anything bad about you, that's just how he is."

"Well he should improve." She grumbled. She was visibly upset. "But ya know," she said, turning towards him and smiling, "it really makes me appreciate you more, don't it? I can't say you're perfect, 'cause you'll try and argue with me, but you ain't some stuck up rich kid with all these auspicious circumstances and managin' to be an asshole anyway. I don't mean to pat myself on the back here, but I raised you right."

He paused a moment, not knowing how to accept that. She really did mean it, and his heart swelled with pride. It was so nice, to be loved by someone, especially his mother. She couldn't always be there, but when she was, she really was. "You really did. Thank you." He said. His smile was genuinely happy now, not something nervously placed on his face because he didn't know what else to do. "I couldn't ask for a better Mom."

"Aw shucks, kid, you're-"

"Hello." Shin cut her off. He reemerged in the doorway, this time followed by his housekeeper, a white cat man.

He looked very proper and formal, and spoke in the same way, in some European accent that was obviously fake. "Greetings, Rin and Soutarou Touno. I am Tsukishiro Amaki, caretaker of Shin, pleased to make your acquaintance. If it benefits all of us, and his situation truly is as dire as you have presented it as being, we, I, would be delighted to play host to your friend in need, er,"

"Gaku." Shin filled in for him. "The creepy estranged Kodori guy? That guy."

"Ah, thank you, young master." Amaki paused for a moment, and then continued. "Yes, I would be delighted to assist Gaku in this time of tremendous need, but I do not work for free, and I cannot care after him all by myself, as I already have someone else to take care of." He gestured to Shin, who exhaled and looked away in contempt. "I do wish that he make a speedy recovery, and I do understand that money is an issue for you, but if Gaku could provide, I would be glad to be of service to-"

"We don't got money." Rin interrupted. "And I don't think this Gaku guy does either, if he can't buy himself a caretaker when his hands are broke."

"You can't break your hands." Shin muttered under his breath, probably specifically to get under Rin's skin, but she elected to ignore that. It was true, anyway, you can't.

"I can help." Soutarou offered. "You won't be takin' care of him alone. I'll help all I can, I promised that to him, and also Shin just a little bit earlier." He was determined. Amaki couldn't say no, not if he had a heart. He already had money anyway, he didn't need more just for compensation of taking care of someone. Well no, he was just the butler, maybe he didn't have that much money, but he still lived with Shin, didn't he? He would take Gaku in, he had to.

Amaki was silent for a little bit. "I suppose that could be arranged, then, if you are also willing to assist me..." He looked to be thinking it over for a while, carefully considering whether this was a good idea or not. Of course it was, if he had a heart, Soutarou told himself. Gaku had nowhere else to turn to, Soutarou couldn't take him in, but he would do all he could to help him anyway, because he needed help badly. Soutarou was going to do whatever he could, and if that something he could do was relying on other people, then he would do it, even if it meant it was taking away most of the satisfaction he would get from it.

"I'll do anything you want." Soutarou said. "Gaku doesn't have another option. Please."

Amaki shrugged. "Well then, feel free. When will he be making his residence here? We have a guest room he could use, upstairs, and Shin and I can cook for him. It can be arranged easily enough." Shin looked pleased, for some reason, but quickly masked his expression. He was still looking the other way, so it was pretty easy to do. Soutarou wouldn't have thought him to be very happy with letting a stranger sleep in his house. Hadn't he been resisting it earlier? He had been rude and standoffish, but he was always rude and standoffish, maybe deep down, he had at least a few tablespoons of compassion.

"Thank you! He's coming in tomorrow, I think." Soutarou said. Rin was also smiling, though less. She was happy that her son was happy; he was almost all she cared about. Now he could feel useful without being completely drained, and this Gaku guy could actually be taken care of without being a total creep. Maybe his situation was dire, but breaking his hands was obviously just a front. You can't break your hands. You can break bones in your hands, and maybe they were indeed unusable, but he wasn't going to exploit her son in any malicious way, he couldn't really do that now. And Soutarou could still feel useful, like he liked. He needed to stop basing his self worth on utility, but at least he was happy, for now, anyway. With any luck he wouldn't be completely drained trying to take care of someone.

"You think?" Shin asked.

"Oh, shut it." Rin responded. She hated that cat, disrespecting her son like no tomorrow. She was so glad she didn't raise him. "We're sure of it. He's coming in tomorrow, isn't he Soutarou?"

"Uh, yeah." He said. He wasn't sure of it, but he agreed anyway. His mother wanted him too.

"So, see you then. Thank you so much, Mr. Amaki." She waved and turned around, heading in the direction of home. The rest of them exchanged farewells, and everything was settled. Gaku would go there tomorrow, and he would be taken care of. Everything would go smoothly and as planned. Problem solved. Hopefully that Shin guy would interact with her son as little as possible, though. He was callous and she didn't like him. He needed to learn a thing or two about the real world. Maybe after spending more time with Soutarou, he would. And he was already scared of her, hopefully enough not to mess with Soutarou anything. A good start.


	15. "Right Now I Would Eat A Corpse From The Side Of The Road" - Gaku Kodori, 2016/2003, in this non-canon work of fiction

He had hardly slept all last night, even though he told himself Gaku would be okay. He believed it, too, but now, everything about to unfold, it felt a little too real. He was on the bus to Kazenari now, so he could go to Fu-May, the game shop where Gaku worked. This wasn't a rare occasion for him, he went there every so often, but this time was different, because the stakes were high. Nothing really would happen; Gaku's hands would be broken, so he couldn't prepare anything poisonous for Shun to eat or drink. He couldn't prepare anything at all, for Shun to poison. Everything would go totally fine, so why worry about it? He couldn't help but feel anxiety, but life was pointless bogged down in negative emotions like that, so why worry? When he was on the bus, he felt other people staring at him as his face kept contorting from a frown to a smile and then back again. He didn't mind that, he learned not to take care of the opinions of strangers long ago, but was it really that obvious? He knew how he felt, didn't he? He was happy right now! He was going to see Gaku, his cousin and more importantly, friend! Nothing was going to go wrong, even.

He could feel the bag of powder in his pocket, how uncomfortable it felt. It was poison, and if something went wrong, he would have to be the one swallowing it. But nothing would go wrong, and it would remain in his pocket until Iwao had no need of it. Iwao would never have need of it again, he was sure of that. It wasn't going to be dissolved in any tea, or anything else, for that matter. So Gaku would be safe, and Shun would be safe too.

Now he was standing almost in front of Gaku's apartment. Luckily there wasn't any sort of window on the door so Gaku couldn't see how hesitant he was, because that would be weird. But from within Shun rose happiness. He was getting to see Gaku! And nothing would go wrong! He knocked. "It's Shun!"

For a good few moments there was a disquieting quiet, and Shun wondered whether he should knock again. Even though he was happy, something seemed off and wrong about it all. He put that feeling aside. Maybe he was just in the bathroom. Or more likely, he couldn't really turn the knob to open the door that well because he couldn't use his hands. That was far more likely, obviously. Or maybe he was at the hospital; that was always a possibility. He wouldn't exactly be able to answer a telephone call with broken hands, so they hadn't communicated any. Anything could happen, but realistically, he was either at the hospital in Kazenari or still in the apartment and he just couldn't open the door. Shun knocked again, reassured by his thoughts.

"It's unlocked!" came a voice from inside. It sounded sick and tired, but that's how Gaku always sounded. He was almost never loud, though. He probably answered the first time, too, but Shun couldn't hear because it was too quiet. And the door was unlocked because Gaku couldn't really lock it with broken hands. He probably got someone else's help to lock it for him, even. Hopefully he hadn't been robbed. In the city, with an unlocked door, that was probably pretty likely.

Shun opened the door and stepped inside. Gaku's apartment was sparse and kind of cramped, and hardly seemed inhabited, but it was always like that. The paint was dull, and the ceiling kind of drooped, and there was no trash anywhere but the trash can. A few things were left on the counter of the kitchenette, but nothing big. He hadn't vacuumed the floor in a while. Gaku was sitting in the armchair that barely qualified as an armchair, the blue one, his hands adorned with two mittenlike casts. It was probably almost impossible for him to do a good deal of simple things, so he probably hadn't changed clothes, explaining why there was still some blood on the sleeves. He looked weak and thin, but especially so today, probably because he couldn't have eaten too much with his new physical restrictions.

Shun couldn't mask his excitement. "Hello!" Just the sight of Gaku made him wag his tail. He was hurt, he was damaged, but ultimately he was okay, and wouldn't go to prison for crimes he didn't commit. He couldn't do anything, not in that state. The casts were formed over his fingers, rendering him unable to do things like make tea, for example, or make sandwiches. It was immensely reassuring to see, even if it hindered Gaku, he couldn't potentially commit crimes wearing plaster oven mitts, and therefore, he could never go to jail, even if it was under false pretenses anyway.

"Hello, Shun. Nice to see you again." Gaku didn't smile, or even carry a joyful tone, but Shun could tell, from a sixteen year lifetime of knowing him, that he was happy. Gaku wasn't devoid of emotions like he seemed, he just expressed them in different ways. It was a little creepy to the outside observer, but in his core, Gaku was really a nice person.

"You too! The plan did work!" He almost laughed at that. Really he was only confirming what he already knew, but seeing Gaku in this condition, even if he was hurt, was such a big relief. He was hurt now but this would pay off in the long run of not being in jail. He wanted to sit down, because that would probably be polite, but he couldn't help kind of pacing around; it was a way to get his energy off. Had he ever felt happier and more relieved? Probably, but he couldn't remember that right now and it was therefore irrelevant.

"That it did." He stated plainly. "And, erm, Shun, if it isn't too much trouble, could you fix something for both of us? I haven't eaten today. And I was in the ER all last night pretty much. I already drank some water from the faucet... but I haven't eaten anything really."

"Oh sure, definitely!" He was obliged, practically. And he wanted to, on top of that. It was the least he could do to display his gratitude of Gaku effectively saving himself, at the sacrifice of his hands. He did that for his own good, but he still needed to be thanked for that, didn't he? And obviously he hadn't eaten either; the whole point of breaking his hands was so that he couldn't prepare any food. Now, hypothetically, he could still eat something like cereal, but the whole ordeal would be messy and generally demoralizing, even though he would be alone when he did it, presumably. "Is just sandwiches fine? Do you want rice?" Shun asked. "Or maybe ramen? Because that's about all I can cook." He smiled guiltily.

"Right now I would eat a corpse from the side of the road." He said, to exemplify his hunger. He lived off minimum wage, so food was already hard to come by, but he must be starving by now. He was skinny; he needed to eat a lot anyway.

"So you don't care what I make you?" Shun asked for clarification.

"Just empty the cabinets." Gaku went on. "I don't have much, anyway. About five boxes of cereal, and a stash of cup ramen. I want to eat it all, right now. And maybe some tea, if you could." He seemed exasperated and relieved, but he always seemed exasperated, so he was just relieved right now, because Shun was here.

"I can do that." He responded. It occurred to him that he might have to feed Gaku like one would a child, because he couldn't exactly hold a spoon or fork. That was kind of concerning, but it was worth it, if it meant Gaku could avoid life in prison. He would feel awkward doing it, they probably both would, but he could handle it. And Soutarou would take care of all of this after today, so he didn't have to worry about it too much. What if Gaku had to go to the bathroom, he wondered. Had he already done that? But he chased the thought out of his mind. Although hurt, Gaku was safe, and that's what mattered. He wasn't in prison listlessly wasting his life, so it was worth it, to have him listlessly experience his life like this. It would only take about a month or two for his hands to heal, wouldn't it? That was significantly less than any prison sentence.

The cup ramen was in the cabinet as Gaku had dictated, and without much effort or conversation, Shun cooked it. He kept bouncing up and down the whole time, unable to contain his glee. He had been somewhat certain before, that Gaku was going to be safe, but now the proof was right before his own eyes. Gaku was safe, and Gaku was there. Iwao couldn't touch him, nor indirectly cast him into the penal system. Iwao wasn't here. No matter how powerful his stand was, it couldn't reach these long distances and still have any notable strength. Imagine Dragons was powerful, but even after years and years of mastery, some things were just impossible.

After he had cooked the ramen completely, he took chopsticks from the utensil drawer and walked over to where Gaku was sitting. He wanted to hand them to him, but Gaku couldn't exactly grab anything with his casts, so he just held the items himself. "Do you want me to feed this to you?" He tentatively asked. It was going to be annoying, but he could deal with it, for Gaku's sake.

"Thank you." He sighed. Had he been... holding his breath? Shun couldn't tell. "And yes please. I don't really have the hands with which to feed myself." He looked directly at Shun, but somehow past him at the same time, like he was staring right through him. That's just how he was. Today his eyes were especially bleak and the bags under them more exaggerated than usual. Obviously he hadn't been feeling well, with all this stress, and having to break his hands. It would be taxing on anybody. Shun felt better though, knowing that soon enough everything would be taken care of. He could even visit as often as he liked, given as how Gaku would probably be staying at the Touno residence until he recovered.

Shun twirled the noodles around his chopsticks, and put it into Gaku's mouth. It made him feel older somehow, and made Gaku seem younger, and less able to defend for himself. It was almost as if he was the older one now. How many years were between them? Gaku was twenty-one and he was sixteen, but it felt like so much more than that. He tried to hold onto his youth as long as possible, and Gaku was trying to quickly move past it, put it as far behind him as he could. Now it felt the other way around. But whatever it took for it all to be okay in the end. And this was the end, practically. The poison powder still felt heavy in his pocket, but it would never be used. Everything was okay. He could find peace in this, even if it meant more responsibility. Everything was okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END OF PART ONE
> 
> not sure if I want to just add more chapters to this one or start a new fic but I'm going to decide before tomorrow because I try and do one chapter every day when I can. 2 a day preferably for Thanksgiving Break which is next week. But you'll know if you're reading this in the future. I still haven't proofread or edited anything which isn't auspicious but eh. It's whatever.
> 
> And: it won't happen because it'll be 4 to 8 more weeks before Gaku's hands heal (he broke the wrists and a few fingers on each, if I didn't say that, he's gonna tell Shin eventually because you can't "break your hands") and I am not going to skip time because I think time skips are lame, but it would be really simple for Iwao to just... wait until his hands heal and then try the exact same plan again. If Gaku's hands break AGAIN he'll know Shun did something.


	16. I Hear Detroit is Lovely This Time of Year is Probably Going to be the Name of a Future Chapter if I Persist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprisingly, I Ctrl+F'd it and "Gaku would be okay" has only been said in its entirety 10 times so far, 4 clustered together, and another 2 in the same paragraph. That cannot be right I haven't proofread shit but that doesn't sound right. I should probably also do "Gaku would be safe/free" and "Gaku is going to be/will be okay/safe/free" because he certainly would be/is going to be/will be several things later

Gaku rode with Shun on the bus home to Minasato, because he couldn't exactly pay for bus fare on his own without the ability to fish it out of his pocket, and obviously he couldn't really drive or anything. He could walk, hypothetically, but it would take forever. A thirty minute bus ride must be two or three hours walking. If the bus typically went around 65 km/h, and average walking speed was about 5 km/h, then it would take thirteen times longer, so seven and a half hours. Geez. That didn't seem right though, and 65 km/h was only the bus speed at its max, along the country roads, so Shun discredited that math. How long was the bus ride anyway? It didn't really matter.

Gaku was to be housed by Soutarou as soon as they got to Minasato, and while that meant Gaku was closer to enemy lines, Iwao legally couldn't hurt him really, nor did he know he was there, as long as Gaku was sufficiently kept hidden. Iwao didn't get out much, and neither did most of the Kodori household (everyone was always doing "important" things like gardening and work related chores and also work), so hopefully he could be kept hidden fairly easily, especially since he didn't get out much either. Gaku was the type of person to stay inside all day unless he didn't have a choice, and what choice did he have, with two unusable hands? He didn't have reason to go out, anyway; Soutarou would take care of all his needs and such, even the more uncomfortable things. And Shun would help too!

The ride was bumpy near the beginning and smoother but with more and more stops the more you got into Kazenari. But now they were leaving it, so the road just got progressively bumpier, and then a little less so once Minasato was reached. Gaku had the aisle seat, so Shun got the window seat, so he could see all the scenery rolling by. It was mostly trees and fields, nothing particularly interesting, but there was beauty in its innate landness. The fact that all that existed was beautiful, the forests on the side of the highway, not untouched by people, but not inhabited either, really. There was all this, and all sorts of things living in it. He wanted to briefly withhold the information from the forest that there was a highway running through it, but that was too abstract and complex for him to handle. The forest didn't thin out as they got closer to Minasato, but it didn't get thicker. From the perspective of the bus, it was the same everywhere. Little by little though more recognizable landmarks could be spotted. Other roads crossed the highway; there was the Kuri household, where Kounosuke lived. As the bus stop came closer into view, Shun thought he could recognize a powerful figure standing at its edge, waiting for the bus. His shoulders were relaxed, and his arms were crossed, but he was massive, and ultimately very intimidating. It was best to prepare for the worst.

"Gaku, hide." He whispered to his side. "Just in case. There's someone there."

"Where?" Gaku leaned over Shun's shoulder, to peer out the window. At sight of the person, he nodded, and shrank back into his seat. As the bus rolled to a stop, Shun maneuvered around him so that he was the one sitting next to the aisle. Gaku slunk low in his seat, so that he couldn't be seen through the window.

"I think you'll just have to wait until I can get you off of here safely." Shun told him. "Unless that person isn't someone we need to be worried about, but I... I get the feeling he is." It was harder to see now, being away from the window, but he could recognize the figure as Ten. He was probably there because Shun wasn't in the Kazenari general hospital, where he probably searched for Shun, or maybe where Ryo or Kyo or even Tsubame or Iwao were currently. Why was he in Minasato though? Why not someone else? And how did they communicate that fast? Iwao didn't use the phone, so he definitely wasn't in Kazenari, but Ten already lived there and just came to Minasato for the shrine; why was he the one waiting here?

"Who is it?" Gaku asked. He gave an aura of understanding, even if he did look exasperated and disappointed.

"It's Ten." Shun whispered. The bus stopped, and the doors opened. He stood up to get off, and hesitantly looked back at Gaku, who was as blank as ever, not showing any fear or worry, or even inconvenience. He forced a smile and have a thumbs up, which Shun returned. But his smile wasn't fake. Everything was going to be okay, and he was certain of that. Perhaps his best natural ability was his ability to ignore worries, and be happy always. So he was happy now. He was going home after a long day, and he got to see Ten! Ten might appear scary at first, but he really just didn't know how to behave himself. He was a nice guy, and someone Shun enjoyed spending time with, though admittedly that was true for almost anyone.

Shun was the only person getting off at this stop, and as one of only twelve people on the bus (not including the driver), that was pretty reasonable. He practically bounded down the steps. "Ten! What are you doing here?" He really did want to know, and he really was excited about it, but maybe not happy about wanting to know. He was happy in general, though. He wrapped his arms around Ten in a hug.

"Hello, Shun." Ten said stoically, not returning the hug, but not rejecting it. "I have come to meet you here because you were not at the General Hospital of Kazenari, where you should have been. Was there any reason you could have not fulfilled your mission?" His scrutinizing eyes weren't cruel, just scrutinizing.

"Yeah, Gaku broke his hands." He responded, releasing Ten from the hug. He spoke with a casual air instead of one of triumph. "He asked me to make him some food, even, apparently he hadn't eaten since he was released from the hospital. I think his neighbor helped him for a little bit and I honestly don't know what he's going to do now." He had the papers to prove it, too. A copy of Gaku's medical record was technically illegal to show to the general public, but if it was only the rest of the Kodoris it was probably okay. And it was to ensure someone's safety, too. Laws were way more absolute than they should be.

"Is that true? Do you have any proof of it?" Ten asked. "I do not mean to disrespect you, Shun, but you must understand this is a grave matter and your sympathy for the insolent can be catastrophic, as you are the only one capable of fulfilling your mission. If you disobeyed, grand and negative repercussions could befall you and worse, the insolent could potentially be aware of out plot." He seemed completely serious about it.

As Shun began to fish through his pockets for the note that had the information regarding Gaku's hospital visit, the doors of the bus began to close. "Wait, please!" Ten called out to the driver, who immediately halted and turned his way. "I might need to board your transport, please wait just a moment until I am certain whether I need to or not." He was going to search for Gaku on the bus, Shun realized. He didn't panic, though, he had expected that, even. Gaku was going to be okay, though he might be trapped on the bus a little while.

"I can't hold up all day." The driver said. "But I can wait a minute or two."

"That's all I will need." Ten bowed as a formality, and then turned back to Shun. "Do you have proof of the insolent's condition?"

Shun handed the crumpled paper to him. It had a real barcode and watermark and everything, certifying that it really was a statement of Gaku's official medical record, and that he really did indeed break both his hands. He waited patiently as Ten looked over it; he was almost giddy with excitement, everything was running smoothly and everything was going to be fine. He couldn't wait until Ten left and Gaku could get safely to Soutarou's house, which he inevitably would. It's not that he didn't mind hanging out with Ten, just that Ten was directly and negatively impacting Gaku's safety.

Satisfied, Ten folded the paper neatly and put it in his pocket. "Thank you, Shun. I now have solid proof the story you generated was not fabricated, although it might still be, due to the powers of your stand. Thus I must stay a hundred or so meters away from you at at least one point after this, to ensure this information is indeed correct. As I have retained it in my pocket, I trust that will be simple?"

Shun nodded excitedly. "I'm not using my stand." He said truthfully. "He really did break both his hands, so he couldn't make tea or anything. It was really lucky of him, or unlucky of us, I guess." He didn't mean 'us'; he meant 'you'. It was lucky of the us of him and Gaku and not lucky of the you of the other Kodoris. They were defeated for now, and couldn't harm Gaku; he was safe.

"I am going to make sure he is not on this bus." Ten said. "Just in case." Ten's stand, Harder Better Faster Stronger, manifested in the form of multicolored bracelets all over his body. They were made of some hard and metallic magical material, and they were presently forming all over his body. Harder Better Faster Stronger allowed Ten to perform any non-stand related action better than his target, which could be anyone within an almost thirty meter radius. He had honed it his entire life, and even though that hadn't been a very long time so far, it was still pretty substantial to be able to use ones stand since birth. He could perform any action far better than a target, though he never used to cheat, in judo, in school, or otherwise. Ten was a very honorable person, even though his stand could be directly used for cheating at anything and everything, he almost never did so. Now, he was using it to be a Better Searcher than anyone else on the bus.

"May I please board the bus for a moment?" He asked.

The driver sighed, exasperated, but obliged. "Sure. We will have to get going in a while, though, I have a schedule that I have to keep, and all."

"Yes, I know." Ten responded. "I am deeply sorry, but I will not trouble you for much longer." He boarded the bus, and then turned around to Shun, who was about to follow. "Do not pursue me." He instructed.

"Okay." Shun was okay with that. Delighted, even. He could feel the lightness in his bones. Gaku wasn't very well hidden, just slouching in his seat, and Ten, now the best searcher around, could easily find him. Even if he wasn't, Gaku wasn't hard to find. But it didn't matter. Ten didn't know which seat Gaku was in exactly, and since he was turned away, Shun could summon Cuty with no trouble at all. Cuty took a similar form to Shun's, but different and more magical. He brought Cuty out as Ten was turned away, so Ten couldn't see it. The first piece of information he withheld was Cuty's appearance. Because Ten couldn't see Cuty originally, he could do that until Cuty was withdrawn and therefore couldn't be seen. As no one else on the bus had a stand, they couldn't even see Cuty in the first place, but it was best to be safe, so he withheld their memories too, all eleven of them.

Ten looked in each seat, and then other each seat. There were people in some of the seats, but most he found were empty. Shun withheld the information from him that Gaku was on the seventh seat back, on the left side, curled uncomfortably so he couldn't be seen from the window. Shun withheld the information that Gaku was on the bus at all. What he said earlier, what Ten instinctively would trust, would appear true. As Ten combed through every seat, he saw nothing. On the seventh seat back on the left, there was no one there. He couldn't see anything. Obviously Cuty could withhold the fact that someone was there, so his search, no matter what results, would be inconclusive. Shun didn't feel worried, though, that Ten might find anything. He wouldn't; he couldn't. Each heartbeat brought new assurance of that.

Through the window, he saw Ten stick his hand into the seat, to check if there was something there that he couldn't feel. Gaku was tense, Shun knew, even though he couldn't see him either, through the window. His hand swatted in front of Gaku's face a few times, and even hit his snout once, but he couldn't feel a thing. Ten's evaluation was scrutinizing, and Gaku's fear was almost palpable, but nothing was detected. Ten went onto the next seat, and did the same thing. A few minutes passed as he went through every seat to check for potential invisible passengers. He didn't seem resigned to defeat, but he had an aura of defeat around him as he stepped off. He climbed down the steps slowly, sure that he had missed something. He had seen everything there was to see, but Gaku had still evaded him. Shun made sure of that.

He had never been more proud of himself. He had used his stand for "cool" things before, but this was important. Maybe he could even get Gaku off the bus, using Cuty's powers. He could convince passersby they saw no one, but it would be difficult to get Gaku to Soutarou's house, given that he didn't know where it was, and Shun wouldn't be able to lead him there, given how he was almost guaranteed to have to go to his own house after this. So Gaku would be stuck on the bus for a while. No problem, for now. Soutarou could get him, eventually. Everything would work out fine.

"Satisfied?" The driver asked.

Ten didn't respond for a moment. "I am as satisfied as I will ever be. So yes, you may go now. I am sorry to have inconvenienced you." He bowed, even though it was probably inappropriate given the situation.

"Whatever, man." The doors were closed and the bus drove off, Gaku still aboard, unfortunately. The wheels kicked up dust, almost as if this road as made of dirt as most of the roads in Minasato. Shun and Ten both couldn't help but coughing as it drove past. They stood in silence for a moment.

"I will escort you to your residence, Shun." Ten said, beginning to walk in the direction of the Kodori household. "Please follow me."

He obliged, even putting a little skip in his step. He could do anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Brevity is the soul of wit, but your content does have to be at least 10 characters long." - this site for four goddamned hours until I stopped dying but I'm still dead


	17. Medical Note

Ryo wasn't there when they arrived home; he was off doing something important, most likely work related. That was almost always where he was, and he seemed perpetually exasperated because of it. He worked for the district government, taking census data and all sorts of other meaningless things on how to collect taxes. It was never satisfying, never gratifying, but he could cheat the system and allow the Minasato shrine to do practically anything. As a religious institution, it already got many benefits, but Ryo bent the rules enough, invisibly, for it to receive funding from the government. No one knew, because people there trusted him. He was a family man, they decided, separated from his family by long work hours. It was sad, they thought. And Ryo was kind of a family man, he just did his job for the family apart from the rest of them, not at the shrine, but in an office building somewhere, looking through countless bits of information. He could also inform Iwao and the rest anything about whoever opposed them and was nearby, which was kind of worrying. But Kazenari wasn't in the same district; Minasato was grouped with a bunch of other spread out small towns. So Gaku's absence wouldn't be discovered. He could probably just ask for it, though... It was a good thing he didn't know where exactly Gaku lived.

Ryo was probably the one who had visited the hospital to make sure Shun was there. Finding he wasn't, he probably called the shrine, to tell them that. Ten had probably been there training, and the one who picked up the phone, because Iwao didn't use the phone. He probably told Iwao, and Iwao sent him to wait at the bus stop.

The door was unlocked, and they both knew that, but Ten knocked anyway, out of formality. It was Shun's house, so he could go in whenever he wanted, basically, but Ten still considered it rude. He was very orderly and honorable like that.

After a short moment, Kyo answered the door. "Shun!" She immediately cried, noticing him. "I'm so glad you're alright!" She wanted to pick him up in a hug, but he was too old for that now. He would probably be embarrassed and wouldn't like it, he was a big boy now.

Shun hugged her instead, and she wrapped her arms around him. "Hello!" He said.

Kyo was smiling like an idiot, and Shun was too. She definitely minded Gaku, and despised the influence he had over her son, but secretly, she was glad he wasn't gotten rid of. There were ways to do that without poisoning Shun. She couldn't have taken the high route because Ryo would have been upset with her, and Iwao would be absolutely furious. There were some sacrifices that were necessary, and then there was poisoning her son. If she had been brave, she maybe would have spoken up, but this was such a big relief. Shun was the best thing to come out of her life; she couldn't express her happiness at his condition. Her eyes were tearing up. He would have only been sick for a few days, but what if it had been worse? There was no way to know, and she was so glad that risk wasn't taken. So glad...

"Ahem." Ten interrupted them. They both turned towards him, Kyo in mild annoyance, and Shun in childlike wonder, his default expression. "The insolent broke both his hands, and was not able to prepare any edible items for Shun to poison. He miraculously broke both hands in the day preceding today, both his wrists and a few fingers on each hand are fractured. Shun handed me a medical note detailing this, which is presently stored in my pocket. Please hold Shun here while I walk two hundred meters away, to ensure he has not used his stand's power to engineer the medical note differently than how it actually reads."

"Okay." Kyo agreed, forcing a smile.

"Now then, I will be off. Please do not let him pursue me. It is not that I do not trust Shun, but that I must take necessary precaution."

Kyo nodded. "Go on."

Ten began to walk in the opposite direction, carefully and calmly. Once he trusted he was out of their sight, he was going to use his stand to make sure he was the most careful and calm walker, to ensure perfection in his stance. But he couldn't do that while they saw, because that would be humiliating. The wind picked up slightly, signifying that some important test was happening.

When he was a safe distance away, Kyo whispered to Shun. "Do we need to follow him?" There was concern in her voice, and it was probably warranted. As much as she didn't like Gaku, she would gladly Shun fabricate some story of Gaku breaking his hands than Shun be poisoned, and she would take all necessary precaution to make sure he would not be punished for it.

"No." Shun whispered back. "It's real. He really did break his hands. He dropped a cabinet full of merchandise on them at work. It was nailed on the wall or anything, and he was handling it. When it over, his hands got stuck underneath it." That was all true, he didn't even need to lie. The less he lied, the higher the chance of his failure became. So it was fortunate that he was able to tell so much of the story truthfully, as it happened. He was glad Gaku decided to actually break his hands, even if it did mean he was actually hurt. He would get better soon, though, and Soutarou would take care of him until he was. Everything was going to work out.

Kyo smiled, but she was still concerned. "Did you tell him to do that?"

He had to lie now. It was best she didn't know, even if she was, more or less, on his side in all of this. "No." He said, expressing just the right amount of hesitation and confusion to make it look genuine. A "how could you think that" kind of tone, but still polite and pleasant. This was his mother he was speaking to, and he loved her very much. It felt kind of wrong lying to her.

After a short silence, she said "It's fine if you did, I promise I would never tell your father, or Ten or Iwao or anyone. And if we really do need to follow him, that's fine too." She kept her voice hushed and grave. This was a serious matter. She was happy, but she had to take measures to ensure that she could stay happy, to ensure her son's safety.

He hesitated a moment. Hopefully it wasn't incriminating. "No, I really didn't tell him. And he gave me that doctor's note so that grandpa and everybody could be sure that he actually did break his hands, so that I wouldn't get in trouble. He didn't want me to be hurt." He released his mother from the hug at that point. Ten could no longer be seen past the curves of the road.

"So you told him about it?" Was her response.

Crap; the fact that Gaku had gotten the note was indication that he was aware of the plan. Hopefully Kyo wouldn't tell. He needed to remember that, when he told all this to his father, and to Iwao, if he had to do that, he should say that Gaku just had the note. Not that he retrieved it specifically to emancipate Shun. "You won't tell anyone?" He asked, in hushed tones, so that Ten wouldn't hear, even though he was already very far off. It occurred to Shun that Ten was the best eavesdropper around, but he hadn't activated his stand yet. No, he probably had, now that they couldn't see him.

"I promise." She whispered back. She nodded in understanding.

Shun wanted to ask her, "do you think Ten heard us, using his stand?" but that, if Ten were indeed listening, would definitely give away the fact that Kyo's "so you told him about it?" was definitely about Gaku. He racked his brain for something that would have to be kept a secret from everyone, that was something he told a male someone and just now, his mother. Ten had disappeared from view right after Kyo had asked "So you told him about it?" She wasn't saying anything now, and he wasn't either, so it was probably safe to say the conversation had died, and would be resumed when Ten returned to bear the news that the medical note was not, in fact, fabricated by Cuty, that all the information there was indeed factual. Luckily, if Ten asked what was told to "him", Kyo wouldn't tell him, because she had just agreed not to tell anyone. This could be easily resolved.

Ten came back eventually, bands around him for a split second after he came into view, and then disappearing quickly. He was funny like that, what was the purpose of that? But Shun already knew. Ten was being the most careful and the most calm walker, the most attentive and scrutinizing reader, and hopefully not but maybe so, the best eavesdropper. He couldn't let them see because that would be giving away he was eavesdropping, and also it was probably embarrassing to be seen not trusting people so readily. He had his reasons. He walked slowly and steadily. When he was close enough to be heard easily, he spoke to them at normal volume. "I have assured that the information here is true; the insolent has indeed broken both hands and will not be able to use them for four to eight weeks, until they recover."

"That's good." Kyo sighed with relief. "I knew Shun would never lie."

Shun smiled, proud of himself for being right. He wanted to say "I told you so," but this was something important and Ten would probably get annoyed with him if he did say that. Instead, he just said "Yep. I would've poisoned myself and everything, but he had casts over both his hands, so he couldn't make anything for me to poison."

"I see." Ten said matter of factly. "But there is the concern of something else. When you thought I was out of earshot, I heard the conversation between you two. Who did you tell what to that cannot be shared with anyone? If it was the insolent, there is cause for your punishment."

Kyo became panicked, but Shun kept his cool. He smiled guiltily to the ground and responded a little quietly, because that was only appropriate. "Well," he started, "my friend Kouya, you know, the husky. I told him that I was going to Gaku's today, and I didn't want you to figure that out, because I thought maybe it could be turned against me somehow, like maybe you would think I told him about the plan with Gaku. But I didn't, I swear!"

"That's right." Kyo nodded quickly. She wasn't a good liar, but she was desperate right now. "He was telling me about it because he was worried you might think something was up there, but he was only telling his friend because he was giving a reason why they wouldn't be able to hang out together today."

Ten stared at them both for a moment. "I believe you." He eventually said. But maybe he didn't. "Now Shun, you are ordered to remain in your residence the remainder of the day, to ensure that you will not be able to contact anyone. It is only a precaution of safety. Do you understand?"

Shun shrugged irreverently, but then nodded, to cover up his mistake. "Yes." He said.

"I will be keeping an eye on you the entire day, because, with the use of my stand, I am the best surveyor and eavesdropper. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Glad that's settled." Ten said. "Now, if you would, Aunt Kyo, please step out of the doorway so that Shun and I may enter." He glared at her. He suspected something, but he didn't let on anything. Kyo obliged to his command, and all three entered the Kodori residence. Gaku was still on the bus, and Shun wasn't able to communicate with anyone, so he was really in a rough position. But everything would come out okay in the end. Gaku would be okay; he was assured of that. He couldn't talk to Soutarou or Gaku, but everything would be okay. Gaku would be able to get off the bus eventually, somehow, no matter how he spent this night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh boy can't wait for the cool part to happen. This is already kind of the cool part I guess because now characters are actually doing stuff instead of just planning stuff. I mean, stands have been used. Part two is more exciting hopefully.


	18. Bus Fare

Gaku was probably going to arrive by bus, so it would be more efficient if he just waited at the bus station. Shun was going to go get him in Kazenari, and bring him back this way. If he ran into any trouble, it was safest Soutarou just already be at the bus station, ready to act if the situation called for it. There were any number of things that could go wrong, and they had to be prepared. Soutarou had been waiting at the bus station for a while, alone, before the mysterious figure came up. He was undeniably the most intimidating person he had ever laid eyes upon. Somehow he got the message that this guy was bad news, even before he opened his mouth. "Please go away." He said. "I must wait alone. I am deeply sorry to inconvenience you like this, but you will just have to take the next bus." What was this guy thinking, he wondered. He wanted to tell him that no, he wouldn't back down, and normally he would have, easily too. Soutarou was a brave person, but there was something ominous about this guy. He was the scariest person Soutarou had ever met, and even with the few words that he did say, he was perhaps the most convincing speaker he had seen. Maybe not the most convincing, but there was an unimaginable amount of will in his voice. Even more than Soutarou. So he just... obeyed and went away. He felt like a coward, but somehow he didn't have a choice.

He wanted to argue but couldn't, didn't. Instead he just obeyed, like a coward. He felt so stupid and weak, but he was too scared to face this guy. He walked along the road, the way that the bus would come, so he could see it coming. There were no sidewalks in Minasato, except along the one main road that crossed the highway, so he just walked in the grass. And eventually the bus passed him. He wasn't on the correct side of the road to see oncoming traffic, he noticed. There was a lane between him and the bus, so anyone with the good window seat, the one facing the trees and not the road, couldn't see him, but that didn't matter. What did matter was he couldn't see oncoming traffic, which was dangerous. So he switched sides of the street. For safety.

He paused a moment, a few paces walking after he got to the other side. Where was he going exactly? All the way to Kazenari? That was incredibly infeasible. It was half an hour by bus, so it would take much longer by foot, maybe two or three hours even. He should've gone in the direction of his own house, not down the road randomly, in the direction of Kazenari, many kilometers off. He turned around and started back the way he came, but then, remembering that he was now no longer facing oncoming traffic, crossed the street again.

Now he was all safe and going back the way he came, like a sensible person. And when he got back to the bus stop, if that guy was still there, he wouldn't back down so easily next time. He probably wouldn't still be there when Soutarou got there though, because the bus would get there before him, and he likely was going to do whatever it was he needed to do involving the bus. Thinking about it, he probably had something to do with Gaku. He was probably someone from the Kodori family, sent there to check up on Shun and Gaku and make sure something hadn't happened that they didn't want to happen, like Gaku being safe and brought back or something. That was probably it. He was even a wolf. He looked nothing like Shun, but not all families looked alike. Panic was beginning to rise within him. He had just let this guy get away! That intimidating presence probably had something to do with his stand too, didn't it, since all the Kodoris had stands. If only Soutarou had a stand and were able to see it.

Damn it, if only he were actually useful!

Now determination was rising within him. If that guy was still there, Soutarou was going to fight him. He didn't run back, but now he was walking with purpose; he had a destination in mind. Annoyed before but now enraged. He was going to fix some sort of wrong if it was the last thing he did, and right now, the wrong was that guy. He was still helping, even if that guy was going to be gone, because he was going to help Gaku with the whole not being able to use his hands thing, but he still had to try and do whatever he could, and that intimidating guy was standing in the way of that.

The bus rolled past him again; this time he was facing it, as it was going in the opposite direction and he was on the right side of the road to face it. Faces rushed by through the window, but they all went by too quickly for him to get a good look at any of them. Gaku probably wasn't on the bus anyway, because he had gotten off at the bus stop and hopefully not been harmed by that guy. Unless he was forced to stay on the bus for some reason, which was a possibility, Soutarou supposed, but he couldn't see the intimidating guy gaining anything from that. He would want to contain Gaku, wouldn't he? And also Shun. That was really worrying.

He tried to take another step forward, to find himself suddenly populsed back, thrown on the ground almost twenty meters away from where he had been standing. He was lying on the dirt now, kind of startled but mostly unscathed. Was that a stand power also? It must be, if he couldn't see it and it was sudden and seemingly magical like that. Nothing else could cause him to randomly fly back twenty feet. He shakily stood up. Nothing hurt, luckily, he was just caught off guard. And he was missing a shoe; his left show was exactly where he had been previously, seemingly unmoved and unaffected by this strange and threatening stand power. This was the most surreal experience of his life; he had absolutely no idea what just happened.

But just after he had regained his footing he was blasted even further back, this time missing his right shoe. He was miraculously unharmed, but some fifty meters away from his shoe this time. He would have even longer to walk now; someone was trying to prevent him from getting back to the bus stop, he reasoned, probably another Kodori. He had even farther to walk now, and he was missing both shoes, which he was going to have to put on. If he even could, that was. This power was invisible and immense. He sat up now, to just look at the distance ahead of him. What was he dealing with and how would he go about beating it?

The bus passed him again; he hadn't even realized he had been thrown in front of it. And it looked like it was slowing down, too, maybe even coming to a stop. He turned to it instead of standing up. If he stood up, that would only be an invitation for the villain to push him back again. He couldn't think of a way out of this; he didn't know what he was dealing with. But he needed to get to the bus stop and he needed to beat up that intimidating guy or something so he could rescue Shun and Gaku. They were in danger and they needed him, didn't they? Even if they didn't, it was best he be there. Who knows what dangers could potentially pop up? He had to be useful, and therefore he had to surpass whatever obstacle he was facing right now, this force flinging him back.

However, even though he didn't stand up this time, he was flung back once more, this time right in front of where the bus was rolling to a stop. It was infuriating! He couldn't make progress no matter how hard he tried! He was useless! And in this time of great need, too! He was so frustrated with himself. And his sock had been left behind too, it looked like. The first two times his shoes had been sacrificed to fling him backwards, and now it was his sock. His left sock, to be exact. How could he use that information to his advantage? He had absolutely no idea; it was just a thing that was happening, it looked like.

Maybe the villain was using this as propulsion, flinging these things off of Soutarou to push him backwards. That was as likely a theory as any, he decided.

The bus doors opened, drawing his attention there. He pushed himself up into a sitting position with his hands behind him. So the bus had taken note of his plight; how humiliating.

"Uh, got a problem there?" The driver asked in a concerned tone, his eyebrows furrowed. "What's happening... it looks really unnatural. I don't believe in ghosts and granted I should probably stay away but, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Soutarou assured him. "Totally fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I..." Suddenly it dawned on him. "Could you by chance take me back to the bus stop in Minasato? I have some business there. If I'm troubling you I'm truly really sorry but this is something super important." He probably wouldn't agree, but if he did, Soutarou would be able to get back there. He would be sacrificing his shoes, he supposed, and that was unfortunate because they were pretty expensive, but it was worth it for Gaku's safety, and especially for Shun's safety. Besides, he could always come back for his shoes later. It was far more difficult to come back to someone who was presumably kidnapped later.

"Ya know, I got a schedule and all..." The driver thought about it. "But there's been some strange folks today, and there's one that I don't really like the looks of. I think there's something off about him, he's got death in his eye behind that polite tone. Unless you're affiliated with him, that's something I can manage." Before Soutarou could respond, he yelled "THIRTY PERCENT REFUND" to some dissenter in the back. The bus driver was really a nice guy, it seemed.

But what if going back had some unseen negative repercussion? That was definitely possible, and probably probable. But it was worth the risk. Anything for Shun, and Gaku, would at even more serious risk here than Shun, it seemed. "Thank you so much." He said, and stood up to board the bus. Internally he braced to be knocked off his feet again, but it never came. He was able to remain standing as he grabbed the handrail, and even as he stood in front of the change box for bus fare. "Will I have to pay?" He asked. "Because I don't really have much money..."

"No, no it's fine." The driver assured him. "I just get a bad feeling from that guy, and from you, it's the exact opposite. You seem like the type of person to deserve not having to pay, you know?"

Soutarou didn't know, but he nodded anyway. "Thank you." The type of person to deserve good things? Maybe if he was more useful he could fulfill that one day. Until then he would keep trying; he would never stop trying.


	19. The Bus Driver Gets a Name, and Later, Character Traits Other Than Anxiety

"You're Soutarou, aren't you?" Came a raspy voice from the middle of the bus, seventh seat on the left. It sounded familiar somehow, and obviously he was familiar to the speaker. Or at least somewhat familiar.

He was almost tentative to answer. "Yes." He walked back to that seat to find who the speaker was, and found a frail... old man? He actually couldn't tell if they were old or young but they were very malnourished. They were thin and tall, and dressed business casual. He looked kind of like Shun, but his hair was dirtier, and obviously, he was much taller. This was probably Gaku, he decided.

"When this bus circles around, please take me to your residence; I can't really take care of myself in this condition. It's humiliating but I do desperately need assistance, and you can provide it." His eyes were glassy and blank. They didn't seem to be looking at him, or at anything in particular, just looking.

"I can do that." He smiled, still standing in the aisle awkwardly. "But um..." He paused, and when Gaku didn't say "but what?" and instead just blankly stared, like he had already been doing, went on. "It won't be at my house. I'm going to take you to a friend's house, because they can cover the expenses of taking care of you. They have a butler. And I'll still be helpin', it just won't be directly in my house. Because my mom said we don't have enough money and also it would be 'too drainin'' on me whatever that means. But really I'll still be helpin', I can still do it, my mom just thinks I can't, but I'm going to prove her wrong, because I'm going to help you. Not that I hate her or anything, far from that, she's the best mother I could ever ask for, there are just some things that I can do myself, and I want to show that to her, ya know?"

"I understand." Gaku said, then turning to the window. "It won't be long until we arrive back in Minasato. Less than a minute, I'd bet, now."

"Can I sit down?" He asked nervously. He didn't mean to be rude, he just felt conspicuous standing in the aisle, when no one else was.

"Sure." Gaku scooted over.

Soutarou sat down, next to him. His feet felt cold. Not because it was cold exactly, but it was just awkward being on a bus when you had one foot barefoot and one with only a sock on. His mind wandered to that. It was obviously some sort of stand power that launched him, using his shoes as some sort of launching point, but he wasn't certain it was malicious now. It had probably been Gaku's power, thinking about it. Because Gaku wanted him to be on the bus so he could take Gaku to his house, or now Shin's house. The intimidating guy had interfered at the bus stop, and Gaku had been unable to get off. Shun had, though. Shun wasn't here, so maybe the intimidating guy took him. That sent shivers up his spine. "Um," he prompted himself, "two questions. What power did that thing with my shoes and uh, what happened at the bus stop? Why couldn't you get off?"

"Well, that was my stand that got you over here, and alerted the bus driver to our shared plight." He responded. "Our shared plight of you not being on the bus and the bus going in the wrong direction, I mean. My stand is called Army. It allows me to create space between objects. It can be many, or it can be just two. I cannot rip singular objects apart, unless they are composed of smaller things and they are non-living. I create space between you and your shoes, making you go much farther forward, or, backwards. It was to get you on the bus."

"Ah okay." That made sense. But those shoes cost two thousand yen. He could go back for them, he told himself. Later. They were worn but not deserving of being thrown away just yet. They weren't unusable. He almost resented Gaku for it, but Gaku was the person he set out to help, so he couldn't do that. He would save his resentment for when he was inevitably unable to go back for his shoes.

The Minasato bus stop came into view, the lovely little shelter from rain and snow and such. It was really very quaint looking. And there was no one there this time. No intimidating guy. "Why weren't you able to get off last time?" He asked. "It has somethin' to do with that guy who was there last time, doesn't it?"

Gaku nodded. "Basically, he was waiting to ambush me after I got off and do I don't know what with me, maybe kidnapping, maybe murder. Shun was there."

"Did Shun get hurt?" Worry was clear in his voice. Somehow Shun's safety hadn't been at the forefront of his mind this entire time. How selfish was he! Shun could be dead right now and he wouldn't know! But Gaku didn't look extremely distraught, so he decided maybe Shun wasn't dead or hurt. Hopefully. He wanted to pray that Shun was okay, but that would be rude, while Gaku was speaking.

"No."

"Oh thank God." He let out a sigh of relief. He didn't even realize he'd been holding his breath until he let it all out like that. After a short moment when Gaku didn't say anything, he inquired further. "What did happen though?"

"Well," he began, "Ten was waiting for us. That's the person you were talking about, I believe. He's a cousin of Shun and mine; his stand allows him to perform any non-stand action more efficiently than anyone in his radius. He was there because Shun wasn't at the hospital, because he had been supposed to poison himself and frame me for it. Our grandfather, Iwao, told him to do it. But he can't frame me now, because I don't have the use of my hands and therefore couldn't have poisoned him."

Understanding dawned in Soutarou's eyes. So that was the plan. He had been completely in the dark up until now, probably because Shun didn't want to trouble him. Shun was immature but polite about things like that, even if he didn't need to be. Soutarou was never troubled, in fact, he liked having trouble, it proved that he could be useful. And he was being useful now, as a result of being "troubled"; it was all working out, in everyone's favor but the majority of the Kodoris and they honestly deserved any trouble that befell them.

Gaku continued his story. "Shun's father, my uncle Ryo, or supposedly it was Ryo anyway, checked the Kazenari general hospital, to find his son, but, since he wasn't there, contacted the shrine and got Ten, mine and Shun's cousin, to wait for the bus to get us both, Shun to punish because he failed, and me, to punish just because. But Shun got off the bus and told him the story that I had broken my hands, which was true. I did break my hands. He produced the medical note for it. Through all this, I just hid from view of the window, sinking underneath it until the bus began moving again. Ten had proof of Shun's innocence, but he wondered why I wasn't with Shun, because, obviously, if I had broken both my hands like the medical form said, I wouldn't be able to take care of myself, and thus would likely go with Shun." He stopped abruptly after that. The bus had stopped too, but the doors weren't opening. They were just parked in front of the bus stop, idling.

"Then what?" Soutarou asked. He was enraptured almost. Not because it was interesting, but because it was real. The people involved were real and needed to be cared for. Shun, apparently, was okay, so that was good, and it would explain why Gaku was still on the bus, if Ten was there to prevent him from getting off, but he had ended his story suddenly, and the pause felt awkward.

"The doors aren't open." Gaku commented. That was all he said.

Soutarou stood up, and leaned on the seat in front of him, which luckily no one was in. He already knew the doors weren't opening, but now he was getting a closer look. The driver was on his phone, and looked to be worried about something. "I think the driver has some personal problem happening right now." He said. "He's having a rough day, we'll be okay, I think." He wasn't sure about their safety, but he was certain the driver had some other problem going on. It wasn't very likely that it was related to their problem, though, of needing to get off the bus here. He was just distracted right now and not opening the doors.

Gaku sat up too, and looked to the driver. He nodded sagely. "Hopefully it isn't something to do with us."

The bus began moving again, without opening its doors at all. The driver was still on the phone. Perhaps he was too distracted to realize he hadn't opened the doors. They were already turning around, back to Kazenari.

"Excuse me." Soutarou spoke up. "We need to get off here. You picked me up specifically so I could get off here. Remember? With the whole magically being pushed back thing? I don't mean to be rude but-"

"I'm sorry." The driver interrupted him. "I'm really sorry, but, but there are powers at play here. I'm sorry for picking you up at all. We're cursed, I think. My bus is cursed!"

"What's the trouble?" He inquired sympathetically.

"Well what business do you have in my trouble?" The driver asked.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." He sat back down, confused and silently enraged, but not willing to badger the driver about something that was clearly a sensitive subject. Maybe his mother was dying in Kazenari or something, and he had real reason to go back there. He was letting personal interests get in the way of professionalism maybe, but some things were warranted, readily excusable.

"No." The driver said, his voice shaky. "I'm asking you. Who are you? Why have you come here? That skinny guy to your right, too. Are you murderers? Rapists? You, lion kid, you look too young to be either of those things, but you can certainly both be demons."

"Um." Soutarou stood up again, and wanted to ask what exactly he was going on about, but Gaku, who also just stood up, got to it first.

"Who called you?" He asked.

"I need to go back to Kazenari." The bus driver said, but it didn't explain anything. "He knows my name, and who my loved ones are. He knows where I live. And he needs you two delivered to him. I know that this all sounds strange and scary, but believe me when I say it's true. You saw how that force was preventing him from going to Minasato, you saw it! It must be him also! And he said, he said I didn't have a choice. He'd reward me. It's reward or death, and I'd rather-"

"What's your name?" Gaku asked. Perhaps it was to prove his innocence, that because he didn't know this guy's name, he wasn't allied with this mysterious caller, and thus probably on his side. "What's your past? Why do you believe all this?"

"I'm Michi Hashimoto." He said first. "And I just saw a guy get blasted back meters and meters repeatedly by nothing so I think that's a pretty good reason why I'm scared. Everything strange is happening today. Someone is really not wanting you and lion guy to get to Minasato and it's not that I don't care about your safety, but even if he's bluffing about my family being hostage, I've got to believe it, right? Just in case? You can't just blow off things like that!"

"I see, Mr. Hashimoto." Gaku was surprisingly calm about it all. Maybe he was always like that. "I understand your concern. You said this person just wants us in Kazenari?"

"Yes." He said. "And I... have to take you there."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been trying to get Pokemon Moon all week and it just hasn't happened really but when it does happen it's going to dampen my "productivity" on this fanfic.
> 
> This is actually longer than Animal Farm, and I feel really accomplished about that. Animal Farm is only 29,966 words. I mean, Animal Farm is 1) political commentary, 2) edited and 3) actually good but I can still feel accomplished right?


	20. Do Yourself a Favor and Listen to Tears for Fears They're a Good Band

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to call Kyouji's hypothetical stand Shout, after the Tears for Fears song, or maybe Laid So Low, but I also wanted to keep main characters to the Morenatsu OST, so, we'll see if it's Shout for End of a Century or just. something else. If he does end up getting a stand. Still wanna pay tribute to Tears for Fears though so I might name something else after a song by them. Really like all of them fit either Kyouji or Shin though. If Nichidou or Chuukichi appears I could give one of them Pale Shelter maybe.
> 
> Right here I'm going to say Shout is basically In The Air Tonight but Good. In the Air Tonight is all suspense and the big arrival point that you've been expecting is like 2 measures and then dies off. They both have the same blue color and timbre though, despite using different instruments. Shout has that same suspense but less so because it has more substance and also it actually fucking delivers with the chorus. And the chorus always overlaps with the other lyrics super well and I just. like that song. and not In the Air Tonight.

Soutarou didn't sit back down, he was far too worried to, but Gaku sat down despite that. Soutarou couldn't think of what was about to happen to them. Certainly nothing good. Maybe it was that Ten guy again, this time calling the driver. But how did he get all his information? He must have hacked somehow. And how did he know which bus driver it was, even? Ten's stand allowed him to perform any action better than anyone in his stand's radius, didn't it? So maybe he was a better and more efficient hacker, and better at recognizing faces than anyone else also. That was really worrying, and also explained why Ten was able to recognize him as Soutarou Touno. But what did Gaku think? He had much more information about all of this. Maybe he had some clue to what was happening, why they were being taken back to Kazenari. Or why he was being taken back to Kazenari; Soutarou wasn't being taken back anywhere. "Who do you think called the bus driver?" He asked.

Gaku paused a moment, letting the silence fester for a moment, either to think through his answer, or to give his answer more weight. "I believe it was probably my uncle Ryo." He said. "He works at an office building in Kazenari, though Kazenari isn't the district he works for. He works for the government, managing census data for Minasato and five other small country towns, all grouped in the same district. I don't know why he works in Kazenari, probably because there are no office buildings in Minasato or any of the five other small towns. He can get information on anyone who is a citizen of these six towns, presumably like the bus driver. It's all computer now, I believe, so it wouldn't be difficult to search through people with the occupation bus driver, and then he can look at all the ones that are badgermen, like this one. He is probably the only badgerman who is a bus driver, given as how there isn't a large amount of buses going to and from these small towns."

"Ah okay." Soutarou nodded in understanding. "So the man on the phone was Ryo. And he got information about who the driver's family was because he had access to it, like how he had access to the driver's number. How did he know which bus driver it was though?"

"Ten told him it was a badgerman." Gaku explained. "He probably called him and told him that. It's conjecture but it's simple. It's the most likely scenario."

"Oh, right." Soutarou sat down now, somewhat nervously. How was Gaku so calm about all this? He was the one about to presumably die. Well, Soutarou was too, but that wasn't as important. He was only being hunted down as an accomplice to Gaku. "How did Ryo know you were on the bus anyway?" He asked.

"Because if I'm not able to use my hands, Shun is obviously going to take me somewhere where I am cared for. I work minimum wage, so it's not like I have the money to pay for something like that. They know that. The Kodoris do." Gaku responded matter of factly. "I would have been taken by Ten at the bus stop too, if it weren't for Shun. His stand, Cuty, has the ability to withhold information from the target, so Shun withheld the information from Ten that I was there. He wasn't able to spot me. He knew I was there, though, because I had to be. Reasonably, I was on the bus, but without the ability to see or feel me, and therefore pick me up and take me, he couldn't do anything. So presumably now I am being separated from Shun, as far away as possible."

"I see." That made sense. The Kodoris really were vigilant, weren't they? And it wasn't a good thing, since it was endangering Gaku. They were stuck on the bus now. And Soutarou was useless. He had no idea what was going on, and he didn't even have a stand power to be of any use against Ryo when he did appear. He couldn't do anything at all! It was infuriating! And he missed Kyouji, too. As guilty as it made him, having a knight in shining armor, who was smart and strong and capable, would really be of help right now. He was worried, for Gaku and himself, and Shun too. If only Kyouji were here to alleviate that... If only he had some way to contact Kyouji, too, because Kyouji would certainly be able to get them out of this. He would find a way out. But Soutarou, unlike the driver, didn't have a flip phone, and thus couldn't contact anyone. And he was pretty sure Kyouji didn't either.

Kyouji deserved a break anyway. He didn't need to get bogged down in this mess, even if it was grave. No, especially because it was grave. He could do this on his own, Soutarou decided. He was going to be useful, even if he didn't have a stand. He would find a way, he would do something. He was already helping, because he was going to help Gaku after this, because Gaku didn't have use of his hands. He could help him with hand related problems right now if need be. Whenever they came up, he would be the hands of the operation, the one who used his hands to do things, because Gaku couldn't. It was a vital role, really, even though it wasn't typically a role people thought of, because most people already had use of their hands. So he was important, even if he hadn't realized it at first. That's right, he could do things without Kyouji. He was becoming more like Kyouji, even - more useful.

After all, why had Gaku gotten him on this bus if not for the ability to use his hands? He probably knew this was going to happen, didn't he? Since he was obviously so smart, and could think through anything. He had figured out who was calling the driver, and maybe already a plan to defeat him. He asked, just in case. "Am I here so that you can use my hands?"

Gaku shrugged. "Well, it's very appreciated, but you were originally here to lead me to your house. Or, your friend's house, I suppose. I hadn't expected Ryo to call the driver, though looking back on it, of course he was going to. Thank you though, you're very useful, since you can use your hands, and you can, eventually, lead me to your friend's house, if we don't die first." He didn't seem genuinely concerned with Soutarou, or genuinely concerned with his own imminent death, apparently. Soutarou was puzzled by that, but cast it aside.

"You're welcome." He said. He didn't feel proud after that, in fact, he felt more pessimistic, because Gaku was foretelling their demise. He would be useful up until that point though, he decided within himself. And he would prevent their demise. Not alone, maybe, but he definitely would help. He would do anything to help Gaku, whose life was in very clear danger. He was chivalrous, that was the word to describe him. Chivalrous and utilitarian.

It was more than just Gaku's life that was in danger, though, he realized. The bus driver's family was reportedly being held hostage! The rest of the Hashimotos were being held by the Ryo Kodori somewhere, and they would presumably be killed if Michi didn't cooperate. He was determined to help them too. Ryo had gotten their names and where they lived from the census data he worked with, and was probably at their house right now, threatening a bomb or something. They could be tied up somewhere. He had to do more than get Gaku home - he had to stop Ryo before he could do any damage to them. If only he had a stand! But he could figure some way around that. He would think of something, he could beat Ryo if he just believed hard enough. This optimism was foolish, but it kept him sane almost. It wasn't so much optimism as... determination. He was determined to stop Ryo, save the Hashimotos, save Gaku, save himself, and then take care of Gaku until his hands recovered. Happily Ever After. Worry grew in him at the thought of the other Hashimotos, though. "Do you think Ryo really has them hostage?" He asked, trying to put on a heroic front. However heroes sounded when they talked, that was how he sounded just now, hopefully.

"No." Gaku answered plainly. "You can't kidnap someone in ten minutes. That's ridiculous. He could have called Ten or someone to come kidnap them, or just hold them hostage in their own house, but still. Ten is likely monitoring Shun, because he is the best monitor, but it could be someone else in the family that has held the Hashimotos hostage. If they are not actively being held now, they soon could be, but I don't know. Ryo also promised a reward to the driver, didn't he?"

"Yeah." Soutarou said. "I think I recall that. Is it money, do you think?"

Gaku nodded. "Probably money. Hypothetically they could give Mr. Hashimoto a stand, but I doubt that he would ever serve the Kodoris when they held his family hostage once. Or..." He thought for a moment. "They could continue to hold his family hostage, but that really brings no benefit to them. They're already really risking this with the whole kidnapping ordeal, since they wished to do all this legally earlier. I suppose they're desperate now, desperate enough to make threats. If they want to cover it up they'd have to kill every witness on this bus, along with the Hashimotos. They might... actually do that. I wouldn't put it past Iwao, since he wants to get rid of me so badly."

"He might crash the bus." Soutarou suggested grimly. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. "What's Ryo's stand power?"

"His stand is lakes." Gaku said. "He has the power to make any surface reflective. It doesn't sound that powerful in theory, but in practice..." His voice trailed off, but then regained its volume. "But normal people can't see stand powers. So he would have to give Mr. Hashimoto a stand. He doesn't even have to hold the other Hashimotos hostage, all he has to do is give Mr. Hashimoto a stand and crash the bus into something dangerous. That's the reward he was talking about, probably." For once, Soutarou could see the glimpse of fear in his eyes. "It doesn't even matter what his stand is, if he can see Ryo's reflections, the bus is going to be crashed once we try to go back to Minasato. He's going to give him a stand once we get to Kazenari and then tell him to go back."

"But he can't do that, can he?" Soutarou asked. "He couldn't give Mr. Hashimoto a stand, could he? I though the bow and arrow gave people stands, and that's at the shrine, right?"

"Did anyone tell you why they're intent on killing me now?" Gaku asked. "As opposed to some other time?"

Soutarou shook his head.

"I told you about the bow and arrow, didn't I?"

"Yes."

"Well that's what gives people stands."

"I know."

"I broke it. The other day my mother came to visit me. She hadn't forgotten about me." The looked up to the roof of the bus, is eyes blank as ever but now there was emotion in them somehow. "She brought the bow and arrow. Her stand is called Extol. It has the power to take anything that had once been in a container and put it back in its container. She was using it abstractly, she was trying to put my stand back in the bow and arrow. Obviously it didn't work."

"You broke the arrow?" Soutarou asked. He couldn't believe it still.

"It's made of two pieces; the head and the shaft." Gaku explained. "I used Army to separate them. And I also used Army to get my mother out of there. I was mad, I know it wasn't a good idea. It didn't even seem like one at the time." He seemed annoyed but also accepting his fate. Let death come, he seemed to challenge the roof of the bus.

"And Ryo has one of those pieces?" Soutarou asked. Worry was creeping into his mind. He needed to find a way to get everyone off the bus safely, before any crash happened that would inevitably kill them all. The Kodoris had this all figured out. How was he going to find a way around this? He had to, but how?

"Presumably." Gaku answered.

"Wow."

"I know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brevity is the soul of wit, but your content does have to be at least 10 characters long.


	21. THE DEATH BUS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part One was called "Preparations" Part Two is called THE DEATH BUS

Bus rides were normally peaceful. How the bus rocked you, and the gentle scenery whisking by was all normally peaceful. But now the rocking felt like something festering, sweltering, like unsteady footing. And the dark forests and emerald pastures were just pictures, somewhere Soutarou would never be. Just something outside the window, not actual real forests and pastures. And he had been so confident this morning, too. He had been certain he could help Gaku, but now he needed to not just help Gaku, but actively save him from dying in a bus crash. And also all these other people. He wanted to be hopeful and say that a crash wouldn't kill all these people, but Ryo would probably find a way to kill them all regardless of that fact, like crashing the bus into a gas station, or running it off a cliff or something. The gas station idea was most likely, since there weren't a great deal of cliffs around. Or Ryo could just have the bus drive to somewhere where there were cliffs... really, he could do just about anything and the driver would obey; the driver felt forced to obey, because of the threat Ryo had over his family. Even it was fake, Soutarou sympathized, just in case the threat was real it was better to take all necessary precautions that come home to a dead or dying family.

"Do you think we'd be able to convince him of his family's safety?" Soutarou asked Gaku. Fear was crawling in his veins. Gaku was smart, wasn't he? He could decide things; he could figure out if a plan was likely.

"I could just take the wheels off the bus." Was his response. It didn't answer the question, but it answered the problem. "I could just take the wheels off the bus." He repeated. "Then it wouldn't even matter, because the bus wouldn't be moving and thus couldn't be crashed or anything. What could he have planned around that?" Despite its monotone, there was joy in his voice. Hope. Definitive hope.

"Then maybe he hadn't planned to crash it." Soutarou offered. He wanted to feel useful. And this felt uncomfortable somehow, like it was too good to be true. It very well could be.

"That's fair." Gaku said. He got back to thinking, but he assuredly seemed more optimistic now.

"And we would still have to console him after the bus was stopped, by, uh, resting on its axles or whatever." Soutarou continued. "I mean, if there's some reason Ryo could work around Army taking the wheels off. There's really nothin' I can think of."

"Me neither." Gaku mused. "And we would have to convince him to pull over so we don't stop traffic, but stopping traffic is really a small price to pay to save all these people's lives, save them from Ryo. Really..." His words trailed off. "He just needs to destroy that flip phone to get rid of the evidence. All these people, most notably the driver, are witnesses, but he could bribe them." He paused a moment. "No, it really would be simpler to just crash the bus. Taking off the wheels would be an easy solution to that..."

There was silence for a moment as the two of them thought of all the ways it could go wrong. All Soutarou could hear was the gentle bumpiness of the bus ride, and all he could see was past Gaku, out the window. The bus surrounded him, sure, but that's what he was focusing on. He didn't feel in the bus right now, he felt out there. And it felt far away at the same time. The word was coming in and out around him, he wasn't even thinking. He just existed right now, it was like he was asleep, but he was awake. And he was very scared, and numb at the same time. He just wanted Kyouji to be here. He wanted everything to be okay and he wanted to go home to Kyouji and complain about his day but not in any way that made Kyouji feel like he had no right to talk about his. None of this felt real. It had to be some imaginary thing, right? Stands? Buses? The mythical monster Ryo Kodori? All that was far away, there was only the gentle rocking of the bus.

Occasionally it hit potholes and that was fine too. It still felt gentle. He kept picturing himself out there, with the trees and pastures. It was probably hot out there, but that was fine. He was scared right now, he realized, even though he had already known that. It didn't feel like real fear though, it just felt like Soutarou was afraid. Soutarou who wanted to go home and cower and take the wheels off the bus for some reason. What a useless display of cowardice.

"You have no objections?"

The pastures... were still there. Nice.

"Soutarou, you have no objections? I've decided to take the wheels off the bus."

"What?" He tried to pull himself back to the situation at hand. Stands, buses, the mythical monster Ryo Kodori, it was all real, and they were in danger right now. Fear was real too.

"I'm going to take the wheels off the bus." Gaku repeated for the third time. His voice was raspy and generally kind of ominous but he wasn't a bad person or anything, he was in fact the one in need of saving right now. And Soutarou was going to be useful for him right now, be his hands. And not do... whatever he just did, completely ignoring everything.

"Oh, yeah." He said. It felt like he had woken up, but he hadn't gone to sleep. "Go ahead. We'll need to convince Mr. Hashimoto to let us do this. I can do that. I can explain everything to him and explain that we're not in any danger. Or he's not, unless he listens to Ryo Kodori. We're in danger right now, unless you take the wheels off this bus like you're about to, and then we'll be okay."

"Alright then." Gaku sighed, and stood up. This was going to make an awful noise, and cause lots of damage, but it would be worth it. A bus crash would cause lots of damage. Ryo Kodori would cause lots of damage. Or maybe this was his plan all along, to cause the bus to stop like this and absolutely ruin his relationship with the driver, who would still take action. "He could call another bus." Gaku said. "Soutarou, please talk to him first. Convince him we're doing this for his good. And I'll help you, but I'll warn I'm not good with people."

"Ah okay." Soutarou nodded in understanding, and got out of his seat to walk up the aisle. Mr. Hashimoto seemed anxious, and reasonably so. According to someone who called him and knew all his personal information, his family was being held hostage. It would make anyone incredibly uneasy, and he was responding appropriately, if unfortunately for his own safety. He didn't realize he was being led into a trap. Ryo was taking a big gamble here, and the only way to ensure his victory would be to eliminate everyone involved. So it was really in Mr. Hashimoto's best interest to listen to Soutarou and not Ryo.

"Mr. Hashimoto." He said. He was holding onto one of the seats, on the opposite side of the driver. The stairs were just past this seat. "Please do not be alarmed, but I can tell you what's going on."

"I know it probably isn't true." He responded defeatedly. "But he knew all my personal information. He told me my address, and which members of my family were home. My wife, my son. My daughter is at a friend's house. And you know where she spent the night? At a friend's house. He's got to have seen my house somehow, this mystery person. You can't blame me, can you?"

"No, I can't." Soutarou paused a moment. "But I can tell you who he is, and how he got that information."

"Who is he?" Mr. Hashimoto demanded. "I want to know who to press charges against once this mess is all over."

"His name is Ryo Kodori." Soutarou said. "He knew all your information 'cause he works for the district government, he works with census data. He can tell you where you live and stuff. He got your physical description from that scary guy at the bus stop in Minasato - that guy called him and told him that and from there he was able to figure out all your personal information. He has data for everyone in Minasato and like five other country towns like that, I think. They're all in the same district."

"I don't like in Minasato." He responded plainly. "Or any other country town. I live in Kazenari. How does he have data on me? How did he know my little girl wasn't home? He told me he was going to hold her hostage once she got home, but she wasn't home now."

Soutarou was puzzled for a moment. "It would've been really easy for him to just ask one of his friends. Or simply hack." He probably used Lakes to look around walls using reflective powers or something, he realized, but he didn't want to dump all that on the driver. He was only a bus driver, after all. He didn't need to be aware of the dangerous world of stands, he didn't need to be involved with any of that.

"How did he know my daughter wasn't home?" Mr. Hashimoto inquired further. "I know it's probably not true, but... you understand, don't you? I've got to look out for my family! I have to!"

"Do you have cameras in your house?" Gaku asked from the back of the bus.

"What?" Soutarou saw he had the compulsion to turn around, but he had to keep his eyes on the road, so he couldn't. Then, understanding the question, Mr. Hashimoto answered simply. "Yes. He, this Kodori guy probably hacked into them, I know, you just, you just have to understand, please. This is endangering you, probably isn't it? But I've got to, please. Please..." Soutarou could feel his heartstrings being tugged. What this poor man didn't realize was the danger he was in if he caved into this threat. He couldn't go back to his family if he believed Ryo, not because Ryo would kill his family, but because Ryo would kill him.

"I'm going to take the wheels off the bus." Gaku stated after a short moment.

He didn't even inquire how. "You can't. You don't understand. I know it's fake, but please. This is something we can't risk." He was desperate, but he couldn't look back. He kept his now squinted eyes on the slowly winding road.

"I'm taking the wheels off the bus." Gaku stated.

"Please, don't-"

A horrendously loud scraping sound came from underneath them, and the bus grew hotter. It was like nails on a chalkboard but so much louder and with more intensity than Soutarou had ever heard any sound, ever. It was the most unpleasant thing he had ever heard in his entire life. This was the sound of the bottom of the bus scraping the road. Sparks flew behind them. The inertia kept it going, but friction slowed it down a good bit. When the bus finally came to a halt, it blocked both lanes fully and hung off the road a bit. Both Soutarou and Gaku, because they were standing, were flung into nearby seats, and injured, but not heavily hurt. It was the perhaps the most jarring experience of Soutarou's life, like a real car crash, because it basically was. He had been knocked onto the bus driver, who now had no power to control the bus. A window had broken somewhere.

Mr. Hashimoto was crying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kouya's father I forget his name but his stand would be Genghis Khan, after the Miike Snow song. Kyouji's father who is not a character but instead just the outline of an OC right now would get Heavydirtysoul.
> 
> also did you know I keep calling him Mr. Hashimoto purely because I forgot his first name. that's it, the only reason.


	22. House Arrest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> House Arrest is like Bus Arrest but sufficiently less fun, because it's not a bus.
> 
> as of writing this: yay twice as many chapters as hits! Woo!

House arrest. Shun pondered the situation he was in. There was really no reason to worry, but he had to communicate with Gaku somehow. Gaku was still on that bus, and still needed to be gotten off the bus, and directed to Soutarou's house, as quickly as possible. Right now Shun was standing in the kitchen, pondering all escape routes. Ten had gone through the house and locked all the windows, but they could easily be unlocked. The only problem was that Ten would follow him wherever he went. He took a used bowl off the counter and put it in the sink, just to have something to do. He couldn't shake the feeling of worry, but the worst of it was over. Gaku's safety was now assured, all he needed to do was get off the bus when it came back around again, and find his way to Soutarou's house. If only Shun could communicate with him to tell him where Soutarou's house was! Ten cast his scrutinizing gaze over the room, taking careful observation of Shun's action. "What was in that bowl?" he asked.

"I actually don't know." Shun responded. "I think it was probably the cereal I had for breakfast. I forget to put my dishes away sometimes." He smiled guiltily.

Ten seemed to accept this response, and grunted and turned away, but quickly turned back to Shun once he remembered exactly what he was doing. He was monitoring, carefully observing Shun to ensure that he couldn't escape and communicate with the insolent somehow. The insolent was either back in Kazenari, or on that bus. Probably on that bus, Iwao had said, but Ten had been unable to find him, likely due to Shun's stand power. Now Ryo was taking control of that situation.

Shun supposed he could go to the bathroom or something, and let Cuty out, and then withhold the information from Ten that Cuty was out, and then go somewhere, but Cuty, while its range was an impressive 100 meters or so, couldn't stray far enough from Ten or Shun for Shun to get to the next house over, or have any viable method of communication. The Kodori household was very separated from everything else, because it was a household of some importance. Ryo owned a lot of property. And even if Shun could call Gaku on some imaginary neighbor's phone, he could only call Gaku's phone at his apartment, because he didn't have a mobile phone, and how would Gaku pick that up exactly? Ugh, this could have all been easily prevented by giving Gaku Soutarou's address. But it was pointless to dwell on past mistakes or feel bad over them. So Shun ignored that, trying to stay in the present.

And presently he was trapped. It wasn't somewhere oppressive, luckily, in fact it was the exact opposite, it was his own home. He took a moment to dwell on that happiness. That was right, he was in his own house, where he would normally be anyway. Nothing bad was happening really. Gaku was in some danger now, but that would be quickly resolved without much trouble or conflict. Life was what you made it, so there was no point worrying all the time, especially about things that were going to turn out okay no matter what happened.

Gaku was going to be okay. He was completely certain of that suddenly. So why not take his mind off the worry with some video games? He walked over to the living room and sat down in front of the television, fishing through the box underneath it to look for controllers, and something interesting to play. "Ten, do you want to play with me?" He asked.

Ten, of course, had followed him, and now glaring at the electronics box. "No thank you, Shun. If I wished to fair competing against you, I would have to disarm my stand, and with my stand disarmed, I would not be able to monitor you as closely as is preferred." He gave Shun a look like 'was that your plan?'

But it actually wasn't. He just genuinely wanted to play video games. It wasn't the first time in his life, but he hadn't thought of everything. It was kind of defeating, somehow, both Ten's rejection of his offer and Ten's reasoning that Shun hadn't even considered. "No, actually." he said. "I didn't even think of that. You could still use your stand if you want, though, we don't have to do anything competitive. There are cooperative games in here."

Kyo was in the room also, just looking awkwardly from Shun to Ten and then back. She obviously felt like she needed to be there, but was taking the role of someone who didn't know what to do with their hands in a picture. There was really nothing to help with. "I'll play you." She offered, sitting down next to Shun. She was the cheery sort, trying to brighten the grave mood that surrounded them. "Or would that be uncool? Playing video games with your mom?"

"No, it's completely fine!" Shun smiled. She didn't play with him to often, so it was a pleasure. And Ten could be content too now, just to watch. He had been saved from responding, even. How would he feel about a cooperative game? He wouldn't want to cheat but he wouldn't disarm Harder Better Faster Stronger just to play video games with Shun. So really it was best for everyone that Kyo stepped in. Best for Gaku? No, probably not, but it didn't actively harm him, either, for Shun to be playing video games at a time like this. It's not like he could do much of anything to communicate, so why not? There was no point in trying if he was just going to fail, right? So why not spend his time imprisoned in his house happy, doing something he loved and was good at? He wasn't good at creating ciphers or solving complex problems or whatever else would help him communicate with Gaku - he didn't even know where to begin with that - so it was easiest just to not waste time worrying. Gaku would be okay regardless, whatever Shun did, it would all turn out right in the end. Everything always turned out right in the end.

"Alright then, how do I make it start?" Kyo asked, gesturing towards the screen.

"Well, I've got to put in the game first." He explained. "What do you want to play?" He picked two games out of the box at random, and then went to get another, but she had already selected one she was fine with. It was a fighting game with a relatively playful cover. That was the only reason he had been able to buy it; his parents didn't often let him purchase games they felt were sinful.

"This one is fine." She said. Using her stand power, she took the disc from its case and placed into the port on the console. She liked using her stand. "Video games are devil's magic, you know." She said forlornly. "That's what Ryo tells me. But it's not wrong to indulge in them every now and again, right?"

Shun nodded awkwardly. He had heard that phrase many times. His mother was significantly more lenient on games than his father; together they had come to the compromise that Shun could only play one hour a day. It mitigated the satanic effects of them or something, as he wasn't exposed to them very long. He had downloaded some on his computer, though, so he got around that, even if he was lying. They were all free, and none of them extremely well put together, but they were something in addition to the hour he was allowed. Hopefully his parents wouldn't look through his PC or anything.

"You shouldn't spend so much time playing them." Ten said, partly in effort to contribute to the conversation, and partly to illustrate that he disapproved of them.

"Right." Kyo agreed. "One hour is a good limit, Shun spends the rest of his time playing outside and doing other good things, like any other kid." She seemed somewhat defensive, as if she was being attacked.

"You limit yourself to one hour also?" Ten inquired.

"I hardly ever play." Kyo said. "I'm only playing now because it feels awful just waiting around when Shun hasn't done anything."

"I told Kouya that I wouldn't be able to see him today in fear of that." Shun added, to strengthen his story. "I guess I predicted right, didn't I?" He smiled. He began to unwind the cords from around the controllers, so he could plug them into the ports on it.

"You're smarter than you look." Was all Ten said. He seemed to leave the conversation at that, and no one else said anything either. There was an awkward silence for a moment, and then Shun handed his mother her controller. It was still silent, but it wasn't as awkward, because things were happening now. He pressed the power button, and, observing the fact that nothing happened, plugged the console into the actual television. Now all the wiring was in place. He sat down and started up the console without consequence. The title screen of the game appeared, and he pressed start.

"Select your character, Player 2." He told his mother to the side of him.

"Oh right." She said, turning her attention back to the screen. She selected the only female character available, naturally. It was really disproportionate how there was only female character in the entire 20-character cast. The female character had an uncomfortably sexualized appearance, wearing only a bra, a short skirt, and stockings. She primarily used kicks to attack, but her skirt never came up enough to expose anything beneath it, miraculously.

Shun chose the rogue character, the short one wrapped in rags and baggy clothing. He had a burlap sack on his back that he attacked with. He wore a hood and goggles; virtually nothing about his appearance beneath all that cloth could be deciphered, that's why Shun liked him. "Which stage do you want?" He asked. He wanted to pick an easy one, so he could go easy on his mother, who was a beginner to this game, and video games in general. "I'm fond of the plaza." He prompted, hoping she would pick that one. It was an easy stage with no obstacles and really nothing happening that could give an experienced player an advantage, or really any player an advantage at all.

"That sounds lovely." She said, beginning to recline, but then immediately sat up again and positioned herself to leave the room. "But I need to go to the restroom first. I'll be back in a second."

Ten turned to face her as she walked out, and reflexively, Shun brought out Cuty and withheld the information from Ten that it was there. He didn't even mean to, he just did. Was there some undercurrent in his subconscious that was telling him to do this? He couldn't communicate with Gaku no matter how hard he tried, there was nothing nearby with which to communicate, and everything would sort itself out anyway, without any interference on his part. He was trapped here, and while being trapped was no fun, there was really nothing he could do about it. There was no point in living if you were just going to be trapped, but he could bear it for now. He felt Ten's cold eyes snap back to him, and glare. And suddenly he was determined. Maybe it was just because he was trapped like this, but there was no point in existing if he was going to be trapped. He was going to think a way around this! He would never resign to defeat! Life was no fun if you went about it defeatedly. So he would do something, he just didn't know what.

"Why so resilient?" Ten asked.

"What?" He was confused. Had Ten noticed?

"You look angry suddenly." Ten said. "You just looked playful before, now you look angry. It was only a slight change in your expression, but my Harder Better Faster Stronger noticed it for me. Why do you look different?"

"I'm not sure what you mean." Shun said, trying to mimic confusion. "Why would I look angry suddenly?"

"Are you mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"Because I'm doing this to you." Ten said. He looked genuinely sorry, but it was only something you could tell if you had known him all your life. Otherwise he would have still just looked intimidating. "I don't want to hurt you, you're my cousin. I love you Shun, familially."

"I love you too." Shun responded. Ten had probably been thinking about this the entire time, hadn't he? "It's not your fault though, I can see why you'd think I'm just trying to help Gaku. And you're just taking orders from Grandpa, aren't you?"

"Yes. I'm sorry." Was all Ten's said. His face hardly changed, but Shun could read guilt behind his unfeeling eyes. His voice was still cold and harsh, but there was guilt in that too.

"Don't be sorry." Shun wanted to look back at him, but something inside him felt icky. He was lying to Ten, not about not blaming him, because Shun really didn't blame him or hold any substantial anger towards him, but Cuty was there and Ten didn't know about it. He was helping Gaku, and Ten wasn't aware of that either. He suspected it, but Shun was lying and denying it. He turned to look at Cuty, instead of meeting Ten's gaze.

It was collapsed in a ball, and brown film coated it. It looked lifeless. It was dead, suddenly, without reason. He tried not to let his panic show, but it was overwhelming. He had had his stand all his life - it couldn't die now! What was happening? Oh God oh God oh God

"What's wrong?" Ten asked. "Do you have your stand out? I know it's there now, if that's what you're looking at."

"No, I-" He tried to speak calmly. "I'm just- just uh. Really worried you think I'm mad at you. Because I'm not." He wasn't lying, exactly, just, just, just diverting away from the real reason he was worried. Oh God, what was that? What had happened to it? Had Ten done something to it? Had his own mother? Was someone else here that he didn't see? What, what, what had happened?

"It's okay." Ten sighed. But he didn't believe Shun anymore than Shun believed himself. Here he was trying to explain his feelings, too. Served him right for having them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Amaki's stand would be called Mother's Talk maybe.
> 
> also the "it's really disproportionate how there's only one female character" line is a jab at Morenatsu except Morenatsu doesn't even have. fucking. any. except Kounosuke's mother and Kouya's mother which both don't have names and are always offscreen.


	23. The Seventh Wonder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is like. over 40,000 words now? jesus. And I'm not even near in a position to close the story, really. not even near. I doubt I will be at the end of Part 2, either.

"Ten." He said. But Ten couldn't see him, due to what Shun made him do previously. He could always call that off, he supposed, but right now, it would be more efficient not to. Maybe he was just checking to see if Ten could see and hear him. Yes, that was it, wasn't it? He had just awoken into this new form, he was still getting used to the controls. Shun could see him too, couldn't he? Shun controlled him, he was a part of Shun, at his most base level. That was right, wasn't it, yes, that was right. And he had evolved because Shun needed to communicate with Gaku, who was on a bus. He didn't have a mobile phone, so he couldn't be contacted easily, but someone on the bus probably had one. If he could find out who any of them were, and their number, he could communicate with Gaku. But it was no small task. Or he could just contact someone Shun trusted to wait at the bus stop, and lead Gaku to Soutarou's house. Preferably he could contact Soutarou, but Soutarou couldn't see stands. That's what Shun was thinking; the two of them shared a link, some spiritual connection that came from a stand being made of the user's soul. It wasn't unnatural.

Shun didn't even look at it, he couldn't risk Ten discovering something was up. He already suspected something, he suspected lots of things. Ten was silent now, unsure exactly how he felt at that moment. He was resigned to his guilt and his duty, Shun supposed. Ten chose to sit down on the floor, but he still watched Shun carefully. Neither of them were moving, and Shun was able to quell the fear inside him, at least somewhat. The silence would be over when Kyo came back from the bathroom, luckily. This wasn't going to last forever.

But Kyo didn't have the information withheld from her that Cuty was present. Shun did that as soon as he heard the toilet flushing, so she couldn't see Cuty's strange corpse on the ground, and its new form. Relief was flooding over Shun now; he still didn't know what was happening, but it wasn't as bad now. Cuty had taken a new form, not died. It was strange and, to his knowledge, unprecedented, but it was far easier now to convince himself that everything was going to be okay. Did it have different powers, he wondered. Was it Cuty still, even?

"I do have different powers." Cuty answered. Luckily no one but Shun could hear, and Shun was turned towards his returning mother, so that it didn't look like he was communicating with something. Even telepathically communicating. This stand was much smarter; it could talk. It was kind of scary, but mostly its power was reassuring. Everything would be okay, it would all be okay. "I can-"

Kyo cut Cuty off, even though she didn't mean to; she didn't even know it was there. "Sorry I took so long." She said. "Are we going to start the game now? Because I still need to know the controls."

"Oh yeah, I can teach you those." Shun said as she sat down. "The joystick on the left moves your character, and the joystick on the right moves your view. It's split screen, I think you'll be on the right, since you're Player 2." 

His stand felt kind of offended. It had been trying to talk. Shun ignored it out of necessity, it supposed. So it tried again. "Down through the Kodori line there have been six extremely powerful stands before me, but I'm the seventh. As soon as you call me back, everyone will forget everything that I did when I was present, and won't remember it even when I'm called out again. The world will arrange itself to look like nothing mysterious happened, but I can essentially do whatever I please. Whenever I am called out again, I reappear in the place I was called back from. I don't have any special powers of my own, but coupled with my Act I, Cuty, I can do anything you can do normally, but secretly; no one knows I exist, not even you, but you know you can summon me at any time, and while I am present, everyone can see me, unless, by using Act I, you do what you just did and-"

"Let me just mess around for a bit before the match formally begins." Kyo offered.

"Okay." Shun let her fiddle with the controls in the empty arena of the plaza, trying to listen to his stand instead of all this video game stuff. Video games were fun, but his stand was much more important.

"I am Cuty Act II." It said. "The Seventh Wonder."

In his heart, Shun felt great joy. He could contact someone with this stand, through writing, and tell them to wait at the bus stop. A normal person couldn't see a stand, but with writing, he could. But there was still the issue of range. Tatsuki and his family lived fairly close, but it was still about 400 meters away. Not even half a kilometer, but out of the range of Cuty. Cuty Act I, anyway. Maybe Act II had improved range?

"I have the range you have." It said. "And writing won't be an issue. I am just like you, in appearance, in normality, but with my powers, and I am your stand. Range is not something related to me, it would be foolish to describe my range like it's something that applies to me."

"How do I jump?" Kyo asked. "It's one of these buttons, right?"

"Yeah, it's B." Shun said. "The blue one." Outwardly, he was telling his mother the controls, but internally, he directed The Seventh Wonder. It wasn't that difficult to focus on two things at once, he found, he had been doing it all his life, focusing on reality and what he pretended was reality. Because reality was boring and depressing. And now he could escape some of that with The Seventh Wonder, he supposed. So much power was at his disposal, he didn't know what to do with it. Go to Soutarou's house, he told it. Soutarou could very well be at the bus stop already, but it was best to make sure. They hadn't really outlined a plan to get Gaku to safety.

The Seventh Wonder obeyed; it had no choice really; it was part of Shun's soul and thus his wish was also its wish. It couldn't just go out the door though, Ten would see that the door was open. No wait, it could do exactly that. It... had the power to. It was impressed with itself; Shun was impressed with himself. He would need to call the Seventh Wonder back and then re-release it though, wouldn't he? Because Ten would recognize its presence, or rather, it opening a door, as suspicious activity, and wouldn't act as if it were natural until after the stand was called back. And Shun would forget about the Seventh Wonder's presence also, wouldn't he? Hadn't it said that? How many times had he summoned it before and not known?

"I did say that." The Seventh Wonder answered. "And several times. Enough to count on both hands, maybe a little more than that. Don't you know how you met the others? Kounosuke first, and Tatsuki and Torahiko shortly after? That's been melded together to make sense, hasn't it? I remember you, we were so lonely."

Shun wanted to converse with it, but he couldn't really. "Alright I think I've got the hang of it now." Kyo said, interrupting their discussion. "But how do you shoot things? And are there combos in this game?"

The Seventh Wonder paid no note of her. Ten was staring at the spot where it was, almost looking at it, but failing to understand the seemingly blank space he was looking at. It was laughable almost; he had been gifted the power of incredible scrutinizing by this stand, he was the best monitor around, but he couldn't see what was directly in front of him. The Seventh Wonder was compelled to play some sort of prank of him, but that would give away its existence, and also Ten didn't deserve that. He wasn't doing this of his own free will, it was all Iwao and logic compelling him to do this. Gaku had committed some great evil or something, to cause the Kodoris to come after him now. Otherwise they would have come after him sooner. Maybe they just got fed up with Shun seeing him, that was probably it. But Ten clearly didn't resent Shun, maybe Gaku, but not Shun. He felt guilty doing this, it was kind of sad. He was a scary guy, but deep down, he was very self critical. That's how he willed himself to get better, unfortunately. There were better ways. There was no point in living if you were going to live like Ten and take everything too seriously.

Sneak out through a window, Shun urged the Seventh Wonder.

"I can do that." It responded, smiling. Shun wasn't looking at it, because he was busy talking to Kyo and telling her the controls and things that she still couldn't understand because she wasn't of the younger generation and had touched a controller maybe twenty times in forty years all for very short periods, but the Seventh Wonder waved goodbye. It did little spins as it walked away, Ten still observing it closely, almost as if he could see it. Ten said nothing, and it said nothing back, but it tried its best to walk as obtrusively and extravagantly possible, needless skips and such. It was fun, and it was probably annoying Ten. It would have if he had seen it, because Ten hated skipping and spinning and things like that. It was probably best that he couldn't see it, and therefore wasn't getting annoyed, though, because The Seventh Wonder would have felt bad annoying him when he was already having such a bad time.

There was a window in Ryo and Kyo's shared bedroom. Ten had locked it, but the Seventh Wonder had unlocked it with ease. No alarms sounded, nothing went wrong. It was an omen of something good, it reasoned. He couldn't see Shun, its user and the greater part of itself, but that wasn't worrying. Everything was going to turn out alright, and Gaku would be alright. It was already decided, and now that was being put to action. Everything was going smoothly.

The grass was warm; it touched it with its ethereal hands. So this really was happening, even if no one was going to remember. That's always how it was. Kind of depressing, wasn't it? But he chose not to dwell on it. The Seventh Wonder was Youth, which lasted only a short time, and all memories of it were altered to fit what made most sense. It did best to embody that. It would have fun, touching grass and all that. It stood there a moment, taking in the enormity of the fact that grass existed, and it itself did too. The grass wouldn't last long either, would it? It was better to enjoy it while it lasted. He let it be, and set off for Soutarou's house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiroyuki Nanafuse makes his appearance! But he's not called that yet, in fact, I'm not sure I'm ever going to call him that. Hiroyuki Nishimura (the protagonist and the bad Hiroyuki but also the real one) can fuck off and I don't think he'll appear but if he does it will only be so the Seventh Wonder can steal his name


	24. Charjabug is Easily One of the Best Gen 7 Pokemon And Probably One of the Best Pokemon Ever; It's a Bus, and Therefore Incredible

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Grubbin evolved into a Charjabug! BUG BUS BUG BUS BUG BUS BUG BUS BUG BUS BUG BUS
> 
> as awful as public transit is I think buses and trains are the coolest most amusing things in all of mankind, along with post offices, the pony express, linguistics, language, politics and the Internet. Transportation, Language, and Politics. How people speak to each other. Fucking. incredible. So I've always wanted to write a story that took place entirely on a bus and this is the closest I've come but it's still not very long comparatively. Hey though... Bus. fucking. BUSES.
> 
> I also really like traffic jams and I play Sim City just to create as many of them as possible.

"It's okay," Soutarou tried to console the sobbing bus driver. He didn't know exactly what to do, but he sympathized. He didn't have children of his own, but he did have a family, even if she was only one person. He would do anything for his mother's safety. If she was threatened, he would have to obey any demand, even if it was fake. Because no matter how small the chance of the threat being real, there was still that chance; it couldn't be risked. Hashimoto had just forced to roll the dice here, and bet on his family's safety. It wasn't a good idea, and it made Soutarou feel like a shitty person, but it had to be done, to save everybody else on the bus. Without taking the wheels off using Army, more people would have been danger. Presumably anyway.

"No, it's okay, it's okay." Mr. Hashimoto tried to convince himself. He tried to sit up straight. Soutarou had gotten off of him just a few moments before, leaning on the handrail to keep balance, because he still felt shaken. There was lots of noise, everyone was alarmed. They had all been sleeping, or talking amongst themselves before, but now they were arguing. All ten or so of them, waiting to go other places in Kazenari, already inconvenienced by the stop in Minasato and inconvenienced by even further by the weird business that happened there, now rested in a bus with no wheels, in the middle of the both lanes of a two lane road, completely blocking traffic.

They were about halfway between Minasato and Kazenari now, fifteen minutes from either. There was a gas station near here, wasn't there? Soutarou couldn't remember. If there was, they were probably going there next, after Gaku dealt with what probably was about to form: an angry mob, or at least scattered angry dissenters.

"Your family won't be harmed, I promise." He again told the driver, who was still struggling. He looked weak and defeated, fearing for his family.

"What if I lose my job?" He demanded. "I crashed my bus. What if I lose my job?"

Soutarou hadn't even considered that. "Well, they'd be able to see that the wheels came off, wouldn't they? The bus people, so they would understand it was somethin' out of your control..."

"Would they believe me though?" He pounded the dashboard. "What do I say? Oh, some psychic guy came and just freaking. took off the wheels somehow. I've been observing lots of magic in this past half hour or so and I believe it but to someone not there - obviously that sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? Who in their right mind would believe me?"

He paused for a moment before responding, trying to think how best to argue that Mr. Hashimoto would in fact be okay. He had accepted his family was safe, at least, or that's how it seemed, anyway. But now he was worried about his job security, which was even more reasonable. And without a job, how could he provide for his family? "They'll be able to see the wheels had come off, somehow." He said. "It's really hard to take the wheels off while driving, I'd imagine."

"But I could've checked the tightness of them before the route!" He whined. "They'll find a way to blame me for it, it doesn't matter how ridiculous the circumstances! It doesn't matter what I didn't do, anyone who crashed their bus will be out of a job! I've got a family to provide for! Presuming they haven't been killed because of my failure! What will I tell them, if they're alive! And what do I tell myself if they're dead? Oh, hey, corpses of my wife and children, I didn't think there was a high chance of you actually being held hostage so I just decided 'fuck it', right? Why not let some weird psychic monster take the wheels off the damn bus!" He hit his head against the wheel, causing a long loud honk to emerge. After he decided he was done with that, he lifted up his head and slammed it back down repeatedly, causing more honks.

Soutarou looked on uneasily. He had to deal with sad people before, but this was a little extreme. He was willing to help, but he felt alien, like he was the bad guy here. He probably was, thinking about it. He hadn't meant to be, but this was where he got himself. Guilt pierced him. It was necessary, to protect everyone else on the bus, and to protect Gaku, who he had set out on this adventure for, even though Gaku was only one person compared to the many others on the bus. He was in the right here, but he felt so wrong. "Please don't do that," he coaxed, "you're hurting yourself."

"You hurt me!" He yelled. "You-" He cut himself off punching the dashboard again, and hitting his head into the steering wheel. He didn't say anything after that, he just stopped trying to work through his tears.

"I'm sorry." Was all Soutarou could think of to respond with. He didn't want to justify himself, because that would be rude. Even if he had felt justified then, he wouldn't have. "I really am. I didn't mean for this to happen. I really didn't. If there's any way I can repay you, please, let me know, because I can't just, I just can't, let you go on like this."

"No I'm fine, I'm fine." Mr. Hashimoto sat up, and tried to regain his composure. "Just fine." He brought his hands to the wheel and took his head off it, as if he were driving. "My head hurts like Hell." He muttered. He looked to the roof of the bus. He looked just about cried out, but he wasn't. "But I"m fine," he said. "It's okay, it's okay." He turned to Soutarou and sighed. "What are you going to do next? Don't cost me my job, though I already lost it, it looks like."

"I, uh..." He tried to think of what to do next, but mostly he just felt guilt for ruining this man's life. He and Gaku hadn't even thought of a next step, beyond stopping Ryo's plan, and saving all these people, at the cost of the driver, apparently. "I actually don't know." He admitted. "We just needed to stop Ryo's plan as soon as possible. And takin' the wheels off the bus was really the only way to do it. He was going to crash the bus, you know. We didn't really have a choice." Justifying himself was awful and rude, but he felt a need to now, to alleviate some of the blame from himself.

"You crashed the bus anyway." Mr. Hashimoto pointed out.

"I- I know. I'm sorry. We're sorry."

"What's the next step in your plan then? You don't have one?" He seemed angry now, like he might start crying again, in both despair and frustration. "We're blocking both lanes of traffic! You can't go to Minasato or Kazenari now! We're gonna have to be hauled off the road and then they'll find me and I'll get fired and then I won't be able to provide my family even if they're still alive!"

"They're okay. I promise." He tried to say, but Mr. Hashimoto wouldn't listen.

"You know this Ryo Kodori bastard and you are really no different!" He shouted. "You care nothing about the people you're endangering! In your desperate struggle to one up each other or whatever the fuck it exactly is you're doing with your goddamn psychic shit, you're getting so many people caught in the crossfire. Would it have killed you to just go to Kazenari? It certainly wouldn't have killed my children!" He slammed his head into the horn again, defeated. It looked to Soutarou like he didn't know how he felt precisely, but he knew it was nothing positive.

"They're not dead." Soutarou tried to tell. "I promise they're not dead."

"You said he knows my address! He could've figured it out! It wouldn't be hard!" Mr. Hashimoto argued. "You could've just beaten him up or whatever when you got to Kazenari! And then no one would be in danger! You had the option to not get all these innocent citizens, including me, mind you, caught in the crossfire of your psychic shit, and you chose not to! Stop trying to be a good person and lie to me and soothe me! You're not!"

He didn't know what to say to that, but it stung. He decided to let Mr. Hashimoto be. Soutarou would go back to Gaku, and get him, and then get off the bus and go to the gas station and call somewhere, probably Shin's house. He felt guilty that he had done this, even though he had to. It would be no use convincing Mr. Hashimoto it was for his own good, and for the good of all the passengers too. He wanted to tell himself that, but was it really? Was Ryo really going to crash the bus? He had to erase the evidence, but... Agh, he just didn't know. He wasn't a good person, he couldn't do things. He felt useless, and reasonably so, because he had just crashed a bus. Or Gaku had crashed the bus, but they had collaborated. Soutarou hadn't even had the idea, but they had both crashed the bus. It was rude to shift the blame to someone else; he needed to learn to take more responsibility anyway. He could handle the blame here. All these people hated him and that wasn't okay but he could use it to get better. Like the soccer team.

God, he wished Kyouji were here. He felt like crying. Kyouji would know what to do; he always did. Kyouji could've found a way to prevent Ryo's plan from working without ruining the livelihood of Mr. Hashimoto, and without endangering everybody else on the bus. He could've done all that and not even blocked traffic. Kyouji was both kind and useful, in every situation.

Gaku was slumped in one of the seats, the seventh on the right. His forearm was dangling out the window; his cast had broken it, but there were no pieces of broken glass strewn about the seat - they had all gone out the window, fortunately. Gaku looked like he had hit his head against the wall of the bus though, and he was unconscious. Soutarou nudged him, and he stirred slightly. That was good. Not everything was going wrong right now, it seemed. "Gaku," he said.

Gaku didn't respond, but he did open his eyes. He didn't sit up, even. His eyes were glazed over; if they hadn't always been like that, Soutarou would have thought that maybe he was close to death. He sat up slowly, and put one hand on the back of his head, to feel where it hurt, it looked like, but hoth his hands were in casts, so he couldn't really feel anything. "Gaku." Soutarou repeated.

"How long was I out?" He pulled his other arm out of the shattered window. Luckily only the cast had touched it, and the cast was pretty scraped up, but his actual arm wasn't.

"Not very long." Soutarou said. "Only about five minutes maybe. Or ten, I don't know. Mr. Hashimoto, the bus driver, he's-"

Suddenly, the doors opened. They were loud, so Soutarou's attention was snatched to them suddenly. Gaku peered over the seat to look at them, too. Up the stairs came a fairly well dressed wolfman; he had brown fur, like Shun and Gaku did. He looked like he could be related to them; he probably was. Soutarou felt his breath escape him. This was Ryo Kodori. He held a stick, too, and was pointing it in Soutarou's direction. His gaze was shrewd, like he was disappointed. Had he spotted Soutarou so easily? No, he had obviously seen Gaku. But he seemed to be pointing the stick at Soutarou. The two of them glared at each other for a moment, fear resonating in Soutarou. He had already hit a low point, and it seemed like these were going to be his final moments. It wasn't as if he didn't deserve it, with what he just did, but this was a failure if he was about to die. He hadn't accomplished anything. He felt his breaths become more ragged. How did Ryo get here so quickly? Oh God...

It was hard to hear from the commotion, but Mr. Hashimoto asked Ryo a question. "Who are you?"

Ryo answered casually and tiredly. He looked done with all this. "I'm the man who called you earlier. Recognize my voice?"

Mr. Hashimoto unbuckled himself, and sat up, ready to fight. He didn't know who was dealing with.

Ryo pointed the stick at Mr. Hashimoto now, instead of Soutarou. He muttered something under his breath, but then looked Mr. Hashimoto, who seemed increasingly nervous as the seconds stretched on, dead in the eye. "I've come to give you terrible news." He said. "Your family's been tragically murdered. Seems you couldn't get to Kazenari in time."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> he appears. ready for an actual fight because I. am not.


	25. "YOU WHORE!" He bellowed

"MOTHERFUCKER!" Mr. Hashimoto punched Ryo in the face for all he had, or at least tried to anyway. Ryo stepped backward in resigned fear, like he hadn't been expecting that response, but would nonetheless deal with it, like a customer service representative dealing with a customer. "YOU'RE LYING TO ME AREN'T YOU? TELL ME YOU'RE LYING!"

Ryo scrambled over the seats, trying to get as far back in the bus as possible. He kept the stick in his hands pointed at Mr. Hashimoto, though. "I promise I'm not! I really killed them! But these guys left me no choice!" He frantically pointed to Gaku and Soutarou with his free hand. "You don't know their sick plan, do you?"

"I'LL BEAT THEM TOO." There was rage burning in his eyes, almost unearthly rage. It was said that in desperate times a person could do anything and it looked like Mr. Hashimoto was proving that too. He wasn't moving, but there was still the stick pointed at him. It was clean cut, more a wooden rod than a stick, but it still looked natural somehow. They were all wary of it.

"That's the bow." Gaku whispered. "The shaft of the bow."

There was a period of alien peace when nothing was happening. Mr. Hashimoto didn't know exactly what to do, it seemed. And Ryo didn't know what to do either. They were at odds right now, because Mr. Hashimoto couldn't see Lakes, and Ryo had no actual offensive capabilities. Soutarou felt the rod twitch towards him a few times, but maybe he imagined it. That was the shaft of the arrow that gave people stands. It was almost as if it was asking to give him one.

And suddenly Ryo threw it, right into Mr. Hashimoto's eye. If he had had less perfect aim, it wouldn't have been able to pierce the skin. It fell to the floor anticlimactically as Mr. Hashimoto howled in pain, covering his eye. "YOU WHORE!" He bellowed, lunging for Ryo, but not having perfect sight, failing. He fell over into one of the seats, and Ryo smirked. "I WILL END YOU I WILL KILL YOU PLEASE! PLEASE, I WILL! I WILL!" He struggled to stand up for a moment, but rose to his feet, now facing the wrong way. Ryo was now near the middle of the bus, not the front, where he was facing. "FUCKER YOU CAN'T ESCAPE!" He staggered farther up the bus, to Soutarou's confusion.

It must be Lakes, he reasoned. Ryo was reflecting the image of himself up to the front of the bus, so Mr. Hashimoto would go there. And presumably he was reflecting some other blank space to where he actually was. It was awful and wrong of him, but he suddenly felt more important. He alone could figure out where Ryo was, as he didn't have a stand. Together, he and Gaku could incapacitate and hopefully eventually arrest Ryo. It would be for the greater good, and only they could do it. He was useful.

"Now then..." Ryo turned to where Gaku was slowly standing up, trying to make sense of his surroundings and the sudden shift in safety of them. "the traitor."

Gaku was looking right where Ryo was, but he obviously couldn't see. His eyes were blank, and they normally were blank, but now they were exceptionally so. He was confused, and disorienting. Ryo Kodori was especially able to disorient, with his reflection stand. The air was steadily growing hotter, too; Soutarou reasoned that might also be a use of Ryo's powers, though he couldn't figure out exactly how he was doing it. Ryo glared at them with a mix of disappointment and arrogance.

"You know, your breaking the arrow in half is really inconvenient." He went on. "But now you're going to get what's coming too, and so will, well, everybody here. It's going to be melted down, see? And you'll be taken into our custody. It's for your own good, get you retrained. Your mother's really worried about you, you know." He sighed. "When will my baby come home, she keeps saying. You went and threw all that love away you shit. It's a good thing I don't have to respect you now because-"

"Soutarou, where is he?" Gaku interrupted.

Soutarou pointed.

"Naughty boy." Ryo spat out. He moved, so that Soutarou wouldn't be pointing to the same spot, but Soutarou followed him with his finger. "It's a good thing I don't have to respect-"

"Soutarou, duck." Gaku said.

"What? Why?" He had to see Ryo if he wanted to follow him with his finger. Ducking wouldn't serve any purpose.

"It's a good thing I don't have to respect you now, because otherwise I would feel-"

Gaku shoved Soutarou's head down with one oven-mitt-cast arm, and pointed his other one at Ryo. Using Army, he propelled the cast at high speed into Ryo's gut, cutting him off and knocking him backwards. He even broke a window with the back of his head, the shards of glass flying out behind him. His breath was knocked out of instantaneously, and he was left gasping, uttering pained noises. He clutched his stomach uselessly, and stared down at the cast, and then up at Gaku with pained and confused eyes.

Gaku shook his arm out. "That hurts." He didn't seem proud or accomplished of what he just did, but he didn't seem guilty either. It was just something he had done, stopping Ryo Kodori. It was like Ryo hadn't been pursuing them. The air around them slowly became less hot.

He let Soutarou come back up. Soutarou gazed at the defeated Ryo Kodori. He would've felt guilty if it was anyone else. And besides, he already felt guilty, for endangering the livelihood of Mr. Hashimoto. He was too concerned with that. He had been of use, at least. He told Gaku where to aim. Without the eyes of a non-stand user, Gaku wouldn't have been able to hit Ryo. "We should probably tie him up or something before he causes any more trouble." He offered. He felt accomplished, though it was only what was going on in front of him. He still felt shitty.

Gaku nodded. "He'll regain his breath in a few moments, and then he'll be able to use his stand again, too. We might want to break his legs, so he can't run away." He chuckled at that. "It would be fair, wouldn't it be?"

"Uh..." Soutarou was reluctant to agree, but it would be, after both of Gaku's hands were broken. He had never defeated someone in a fight before, so it was weird to think what he would do upon victory. Technically he hadn't won just yet, because Ryo could animate himself again after he recovered, but Ryo, at least for now, was helpless. He was too out of air to even speak. Soutarou could kill him if he wanted. He wouldn't of course, but he could. "Yeah." He said. "Though I was thinking just get rope or something."

"He could burn through rope." Gaku argued. "Using Lakes, he can focus harsh beams of light, like how you can kill ants with a magnifying glass. That's why everything was heating up earlier, remember? He was reflecting light and heat off the walls, which he had made reflective. A non stand user may not be able to see the reflections themselves, but they can feel the effects. He could have killed everyone in the bus by melting it down, by generating enough heat that way."

"Oh wow." Was all Soutarou managed to say. "He's scary."

Gaku nodded. "Really that was the only way I could think to beat him, but we need to break his legs now. Or at least one of his legs. It's really hard to walk on a broken leg. Do you think I should use my other cast?" Gaku's words felt distant somehow, as if he wasn't really there. The whole situation felt distant.

"You might as well." Soutarou responded, but he didn't really know what that meant. They were just sounds coming out of his mouth, he didn't feel here. He didn't feel accomplished, he didn't feel happy that he was useful. He had hurt someone. Two people, actually, but Ryo deserved it. Or at least somewhat did. God, he had hurt them both! What kind of person was he? He was only trying to help, and this was what he did?

"Where is he?" Came a voice from the front of the bus. Soutarou turned to see Mr. Hashimoto standing there, clutching his eye, and turning around. The image of Ryo he had been meaning to fight had been a hologram, a reflection, something, but it hadn't been the real Ryo, so when it disappeared, he was reasonably confused. "He was just here, I saw him."

"That was a reflection." Gaku explained. "He has the power to make any surface reflective. He was reflecting an image of himself to the front of the bus, it seems. And now..." he paused. "You have a power, also. Because you were hit with that rod, the shaft of a magic bow and arrow, and it made you bleed. If you could bring out your stand, that is, your power, that would be lovely."

"Power?" Mr. Hashimoto didn't believe him. "Are you kidding me? After all this shit?" He was clearly still angry with them, too, for stopping the bus and potentially costing him his job.

"I'm not kidding." Gaku said. "It really isn't that hard to believe, is it? After everything you just watched? And the reflection you just attempted to fight with? You were able to see the reflection because Ryo gifted you a power with the shaft of the arrow. And speaking of Ryo, I need to break his legs so he doesn't get away. He can't really fight right now, but sooner or later he will be able to." He turned to where Ryo lay, and didn't do anything.

"What's the problem?" Soutarou asked. "He's still right there. If he's using his stand, I can tell you where he is. He's still right there."

"Alright." Gaku walked forward to where Ryo was, and stared down at him. Ryo stared back up in fear and awe. To think he had been beaten so simply and easily, just with the help of some kid. Gaku felt around on the ground with his foot where Ryo's legs were. Even without being able to see them, he could feel them. It was only light being reflected, not the sensation of touch. The sensation of touch couldn't be reflected.

"So, I'm backed into a corner, huh?" Ryo said. His words were faint and small; that was all he could manage, it seemed. "This is kind of pathetic of me, isn't it?"

"Yep." Gaku said. He found Ryo's left leg and stood on it.

Ryo winced. "You know, I really don't hate you or anything. I wanted to bring you home. But Dad says traitors go to Hell. And I guess they do, don't they?"

Gaku jumped. "No, I'm not certain. I haven't been there yet."

Ryo gagged, and crumpled down even more where he half-sat half-laid down. He didn't say anything else, because it hurt, but he looked like he was about to cry.

The bus steadily started becoming hotter again. Soutarou looked around on the floor for the shaft of the arrow, and didn't see it. Ryo was using his stand again, and he had to make sure Ryo didn't give him a stand, or else they wouldn't be able to see where he was. Ryo couldn't go far with a broken leg, but there was no telling what could happen really. You could never be too safe. He was even using Lakes right now, wasn't he? Because Gaku didn't know exactly where he was.

The shaft of the arrow wasn't far from where he stood. In fact, it appeared he had accidentally stepped on it. What a coincidence. He considered breaking it in half, but that probably wouldn't even work. Instead he just looked at it in wonder and rage. All of this awful mess was its fault, for making stands happen in the first place. He didn't want to blame people, but since this was an inanimate object, it was okay, right? He could get mad at inanimate objects all he wanted without any repercussions. Or without many, anyway. Certainly without guilt. It was partially his fault, he couldn't take the blame off of himself of course, but he wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for this dumb arrow.

He found he had accidentally pricked himself on it somehow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda add a stand later that's like Ryo's except it can move the presence of something, and doesn't reflect it. The light stays in the same place, the actual object does not.


	26. I Planned For Soutarou To Get His Stand Near The Beginning But Instead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As of posting this chapter, this fanfic has more words than all other Morenatsu fanfictions on this site combined (52661). Which isn't saying much, but I'm still kinda proud of it.

The area around him seemed to sparkle and change. It was trippy. Bright light was streaming in from everywhere, and he could hardly tell where anything was. Where was he standing, even? He had been standing in the aisle, near the middle back of the bus. But everything was shimmery now, and... reflective. Oh God. He turned to where Gaku was, or he remembered Gaku being. Gaku's body was refracted and reflected all over the bus, to various spots where pieces of him were, on the sides of objects. It would have been miraculous and heavenly looking if it didn't spell his certain demise. It really was heavenly looking, somehow. Maybe it was because he was dealing with something he didn't fully understand. And he couldn't even tell where he was. There was his own reflection, and there it was again, along where the windows were supposed to be. Ryo had been reflected onto the ceiling. He was just sitting there, weak and defeated but still triumphant somehow. He was smiling.

He couldn't be useful anymore, Soutarou realized. He couldn't be Gaku's eyes. He had come all this way and failed. How pathetic was he, then? Everything he had tried to do he fell short of, even making it worse. And he had a stand now... Powers, but he would also be targeted by the Kodoris in the future, Gaku had said. Hopefully that wouldn't mean his family too - his mother didn't deserve that. They would even have to move again, and to who knows where this time? They couldn't afford to by another house!

He willed it within him to make use of this power, to be as effective as he possibly could, to fight until he couldn't anymore, to go on until he fainted. Defeat at this point could mean any number of things, and he was already somewhat defeated, wasn't he? He had ruined Mr. Hashimoto's life, and he had gone and given himself a stand, too. He would have to go through this, though, no matter how he felt about it, so he decided to feel strongly about it. Determined. That was another word for it. Ryo Kodori's location was already identified anyway; he was still using his stand but he couldn't move far and now they knew exactly where he was. All that remained was to carry him away.

And there was the ordeal of the bus, too. Gaku and Soutarou had crashed a bus; they were probably going to be criminally investigated for that. Which was reasonable, but inconvenient. They could probably argue that the government couldn't prove anything, because it was all stand magic, and the government couldn't prove anything,  
but Ryo might spin it somehow. Soutarou wasn't smart enough to think of all the possibilities. Luckily Ryo would probably be investigated also, for the threats. Mr. Hashimoto might yet get justice for having his job taken from him. Or potentially taken from him, anyway.

Soutarou was sweating; he hadn't noticed that before. By now, it was even hotter in the bus than it was outside. The bus had air conditioning, but Ryo Kodori had reflected heat back inside the walls. People were starting to leave the bus, probably. Soutarou could see that they were moving, but not exactly where they were. It felt like a dream. He wanted to follow them, but he realized he couldn't. He didn't know which way they were going. He would just have to feel his way out. Maybe he could use the arrow shaft to avoid touching potentially hot surfaces.

"Where is he?" Mr. Hashimoto asked. Soutarou turned to where he heard the voice coming from, though he couldn't see anything that was any different from any other random spot.

"He's there," Gaku said. Then, realizing Mr. Hashimoto couldn't tell where he was pointing, he clarified. "He's still in the floor right here, I've got him under my feet. I think I broke his leg."

"Good." Mr. Hashimoto grumbled. "Now what the actual Hell is happening. Please explain, I have no idea what any of this psychic SHIT is! What is going on? What's with all this weird light? What's with lion kid falling backward twenty meters? Why does this fuck want you in Kazenari so bad? And mostly, WHO ARE YOU?"

Soutarou couldn't tell if he was looking at Gaku, and Mr. Hashimoto probably couldn't tell either. Before Gaku could respond, however, Ryo spoke. His words were very cold and impartial, he sounded normal tired, not like Gaku, who sounded deathly. "I'm sorry." He said. "Michi Hashimoto, I'm very sorry about lying to you. But I had to do it, to get you back to Kazenari. I knew that you wouldn't come back unless you had good reason to. This man who just broke my leg, we need to capture him, you don't understand what danger you're in."

"No I really believe I don't." He sighed. "Is my family okay? Please, you didn't kill them, did you?" He sounded pleading. The bus grew steadily hotter; water was condensing on the windows, because beyond them it was cooler.

"No." Ryo said. "I'm really sorry about saying I dead, you just needed a reason. I shouldn't have toyed with you like that." He sounded genuinely sorry, but mostly done, like he wanted to go home. He probably felt uncomfortably hot, too, unless he was immune to the effect of Lakes. It felt like an oven in the bus.

"Well why did you?" Mr. Hashimoto asked pointedly. "What the hell is happening here, even?"

"Let me explain. There are-" Gaku began,

but Ryo cut him off. "powers, called stands. They've been passed down in our family line as long as our family line was a family line. We're both Kodoris, by blood, anyway. This one, who I needed in Kazenari, I'm not allowed to say his name, but he's been disowned from the family." He paused, and when Gaku didn't interject, he went on, slightly rushed, and still out of breath from the earlier impact. "He killed someone. He killed his father, my brother. I'm trying to take him to prison. I'm trying to capture him, because the cops couldn't." He spoke faster as he went. "He's been evading the authorities with his power - he can create distance between any two objects, like you see he did with the cast. He's created distance between himself and everything the authorities have thrown at him, he escaped all of it, but I, like him, have a power. I have the power to create reflections, and I thought maybe I could stop him, if the authorities couldn't. My father told me to do it. None of this is my fault, please, don't be mad at me. I just did what I had to do! I swear! I'm sorry! I can't tell you from how deeply from within my heart I say this, but I am sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!"

Was all that true? Soutarou's heart skipped a beat. He had just been assisting a murderer, someone who killed his own father! And he had told him where Ryo was, too! He had actively stopped Gaku from being apprehended and getting the justice he deserved! Ryo was cruel, but ultimately he was innocent, wasn't he? Shun had shown faith in Gaku, but Shun was immature! He could be fooled easily! It's no wonder the Kodoris wanted to send Gaku to prison, if he had killed one of their own. His most recent offense, the breaking of the bow and arrow, had been the proverbial straw on the camel's back, it seemed. This was what made the Kodoris decide to finally attack. Oh God. He felt so wrong; he had ruined two people's lives today, and neither deserved it. His stomach quivered; was that true? It couldn't be, could it? "Tell me he's not telling the truth!" Soutarou demanded. "I helped you!"

"He's not." Gaku responded calmly. He seemed eerily detached from the situation, but he was always like that.

"And how do we know that?" Mr. Hashimoto asked.

"My father died of heart failure nine years ago." Gaku said. "Not of me. I was disowned four years after that, when I was sixteen, because I was too liberal. I was expressing an interest in politics; I was going to school for it. And they all just hated me."

"Nothing else?" Ryo wheezed.

"There was something else, but it certainly wasn't killing my father. That's preposterous." Gaku retained the same detached demeanor he always did, somehow. It seemed impossible for the surroundings to grow hotter, but they kept doing so. If the situation weren't so tense, Soutarou might have wanted to take off his shirt or something, but doing that now would be inappropriate. He was in the same room (ish) as two possible murderers, and the man whose life he had just ruined. He noticed Gaku's reflection gently swaying in multiple places; it was probably the heat. Everything was becoming fuzzy...

"You hated him all your life." Ryo spat. "Your evil soulless eyes... you aren't even capable of love, are you? Demon..."

"Is he telling the truth?" Mr. Hashimoto asked. But it was unclear who he was asking.

"No." Gaku and Ryo answered simultaneously. If they could have glared each other in the eyes, they would have. Ryo was probably looking dead into Gaku's eyes, in pure contempt. That was all Soutarou could imagine, that and creeping guilt. Perhaps the heat was a metaphor for that. It was swelteringly hot, beyond what a person should be able to tolerate. He wished it weren't so hot...

There was a period of brief silence and overwhelming heat as Mr. Hashimoto pondered that answer. No one knew what was even happening anymore, did they? They were all too focused on standing, except for Ryo, who was too focused on the pain in his leg, probably. Soutarou sat down on the floor. Sweat was getting his eyes, and he couldn't see the trippy world beyond him. As if his sight would have even been useful. He didn't know where he was, he didn't know what was going on. He had never doubted himself more in his life. He knew he was useless, but this... this was a new low. A new, incredibly low, low. Why was he like this? This was all his fault, helping Gaku and trusting everything that was told to him blindly. He still believed Gaku more, but was that because his story seemed more genuine or because he was trying to absolve himself of guilt? God, he wished it weren't so hot!

And suddenly it wasn't. He shivered uncontrollably; it was such a sudden shift. Water was condensed everywhere suddenly. Ice, it looked like. Clouding Ryo's reflections, luckily. Ryo seemed to be taken back by it as well, because otherwise, he could have just used the now ice-crusted surfaces to make Lakes even easier to use. Soutarou could suddenly tell where Gaku and Mr. Hashimoto were standing; it was like he had woken up. And between them and Soutarou was a vaguely lionesque figure, with golden and circled in blue, red, and brown on its forearms. It had no eyes, just a series of robotic slits, and where its mouth should have been, there were downward stripes of blue, red, and brown. It had an orange mane, the exact color of his hair. It was facing Soutarou. And it was holding a ball of fire.

This was his stand, it looked like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Detroit Summer! After the most underrated song in the entire soundtrack! After a full novel's length of unproofread garbage, he's finally arrived! I'm so genuinely proud of myself for finally fucking getting here, you have no idea. And it's on a bus, too! Yay bus!


	27. I Hear Detroit is Lovely This Time of Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I headcanon human Soutarou Hispanic just because of the Brilliante in the name of the soccer club but I also like to think he's from Detroit, just because of Detroit Summer's existence as a song. Really it means "Detroit is really fucking hot" and canonically Soutarou is just "from the city" but I. like to think that he's from a really far away city. and that his family's move linked to his father's disappearance. that may never be relevant in this fic but if I ever getting around to writing Soutarou and Kyouji routes it definitely will be.
> 
> Other far away cities I like to think he could be from include Houston, Los Angeles, that one town I forget the name of but it's the most violent city in the Western hemisphere or something and it's near the Mexico-US border and I love torturing fictional characters, Mexico City, and Pheonix. I think that one city is called Ciudad Juarez..
> 
> also I made him a song a while ago look at this: https://fairystatic.bandcamp.com/track/rely-on-me

"Is that your stand?" Gaku asked, turning his attention to it. From his angle, he couldn't see the ball of fire, but he knew something had just happened. They all did. Soutarou could see the fingers of Ryo Kodori curl over the back of a seat, and almost lift himself up. He looked dismayed and beaten, but pleasantly surprised. Like this was all falling into place correctly.

"I mean, I uh, I guess so." Soutarou responded. To both of them, he thought. But he hated the fact that everything was going so smoothly. He was gullible; he didn't know who to trust right now. But at least he had this power. Maybe he could incapacitate both of them. And Mr. Hashimoto too, if he attacked him with whatever stand he had gotten. It was awful to think about, because he had just ruined the man's life, but he was a threat too. And now Soutarou had the power to dismantle threats. With... whatever power he had just awakened.

"What is that?" Mr. Hashimoto demanded. Ryo was sitting up in the seat now, leaning on his leg that wasn't hurt, probably. He hadn't reactivated his reflections yet; something was fishy about that.

"It's his stand." Gaku answered him. "It doesn't have a name yet, and we don't know its powers, but it made the area much colder. It appears as if it's condensed the heat in the room into its hands, that fire it's holding."

The stand faced Gaku. As Soutarou tensed, it also tensed. He was controlling its actions with his mind, he realized. That was so cool, even if he didn't know exactly what he was going to do with it. It still held the ball of fire in its hand. But he didn't want to hurt anybody by releasing that, so he would keep it in his stand's hand. It had apparently condensed all the heat in that room into that ball of fire, though he wasn't sure exactly how that worked. It was magic, maybe it didn't need an explanation. Its tail flicked back and forth, in seeming wait. Was it conscious? Sentient? That wasn't the principle matter right now, but he couldn't stop himself from thinking about it.

Everything was so cold now. It was uncomfortably cold, but also pleasant, if only because of the contrast with the heat that previously overwhelmed the bus. "What does it do?" Mr. Hashimoto asked with the same coldness that surrounded them now.

"We're not sure yet." Ryo said. "We'll have to wait and see what it does, won't we?"

Soutarou felt pressure to use his stand powers right then, but still no one was acting. He didn't even know what to do with it, anyway. He found it was walking towards Ryo and Gaku, though. He hadn't intended for it to do that. It wasn't hard to control, but it seemed to be doing more than he was. He was moving it subconsciously, it looked like, and felt like. It paused right before it met them.

A shadowy figure emerged from Gaku; it looked to be his stand, Army. It was humanoid, but had a face wrapped in bandages. It wore a camouflage trenchcoat, a military hard hat, large boots and some baggy pants that were stuff into the boots; from its back rose two smoking cannons, and instead of hands, it appeared to have the barrels of some type of sniper gun. It fit its militaristic name, though it didn't seem to fit with Gaku at all. He looked different standing next to it, even less disciplined that he probably already was. It raised one of its arms to Soutarou's stand, pointing the gun in its face.

"Hey now!" Soutarou objected. His stand squirmed too, trying to maneuver itself away from Army. But it was too late; Army fired its bullet. Soutarou couldn't see it, but it didn't seem to do any actual damage. Soutarou's stand was just pushed farther back, very far. It was behind him now, and sprawled on the ground, seemingly caught off guard. Well of course it was. Soutarou was caught off guard too. He hadn't been expecting that for some reason. But luckily they weren't actual bullets, right? Army faded back into Gaku.

"What the hell was that?" Mr. Hashimoto asked. "What are these things?"

"Stands." Ryo answered. "That guy-" he pointed to Gaku- "his stand is called Army. It has the power to create distance between any two objects. I already told you that though, I thought."

"I didn't think it would look like that."

"Well it does." Ryo looked like he would have shrugged, if he wasn't in so much pain. It was a wonder he was able to keep a straight face. "Mine doesn't have a form like that, because it's so thin spread. It emerges from my hand and takes the form of a sort of sheet of mirrors." He held his hand up, which sparkled with reflected light, to demonstrate. Why was he explaining his powers to Mr. Hashimoto, his probably enemy? Was it to gain trust? "It can spread onto anything on touch, and from there, it can spread onto anything that thing touches. It has a range of around twenty-five meters, but it's sufficient enough to do damage to my enemies, and sufficient enough to capture this insolent here. Or I thought it was, anyway. It appears as if that isn't the case."

"No it isn't." Gaku said, before he could speak anymore. "And you're trapped now. So don't think about trying to capture me still; you can't."

"You're trapped too, aren't you?" Ryo pointed out. "The bus has no wheels; no one's going to come and take you. Shun most certainly won't. And I'm afraid we'll all be sent in for questioning by the authorities. They'll think we're crazy. And Michi Hashimoto here, well I'm not sure what'll happen to him, but really you're to blame for all of this, I think we can agree unanimously."

Gaku didn't respond to that. Soutarou didn't either, because he couldn't agree. He just wasn't sure. Shun trusted Gaku, but Shun was immature! What if he was wrong? He tried to weigh the odds, but he couldn't figure out who to bet on. Ryo certainly seemed evil; he might have been about to crash the bus. But he also might have just been baiting Gaku to take the wheels off; in fact, that was probably more likely, since it was such a simple solution. And it would explain how he got there so fast, too. He probably parked his car at the nearby gas station, didn't he? Everything seemed to be falling into place, but he couldn't figure out what was happening. He had a stand now, though. He had power. Ryo wasn't using his reflections, so Soutarou could do whatever he wanted, basically. Once he figured out what it was he needed to do, he would do it. Efficiently and as soon as possible. He had to.

"I didn't know what's happening." Mr. Hashimoto was the first to admit. "I don't get it!"

"Well, let me explain it for you, in layman's terms." Ryo offered. "When I shot you with the arrow, or, the shaft of the arrow, I guess, it granted you a stand. Once you awaken it, you're going to use it to diminish this one's power." He pointed to Gaku. "And you," he called to Soutarou, "you will too. Show me what your stand does."

"I don't know..." Mr. Hashimoto mumbled.

Soutarou and his stand both just stood there. His stand was behind him, so he stood between it and the other people. It was the only stand out right now, and it seemed to be draining his energy. It was a lot of work to operate a stand, apparently. He didn't know what to do, but he had vowed to be useful, to help in whatever way possible. To fight until he could no longer fight. But he didn't know who to fight for. No, that wasn't right. He knew exactly who to fight for. He would fight for himself, and be the best version of himself that ever was. He would defeat them both right now, and then he could decided who needed rehabilitating. As awful as it was, it was the most efficient strategy, to help the one that needed helping. Whoever that was. He felt determination rise within him. He wasn't doing right yet, but he wasn't doing wrong. At least he was DOING! He was making a difference, right now. He was about to. This uncertainty had nearly killed him, he thought. But he had just gotten through it, gotten past it. He was going to fight, he was going to help, one step at a time. And this step was rather dangerous but it was a step. He made his stand walk in front of him.

"What are you doing?" Mr. Hashimoto asked; there was fear rising in his voice.

"I don't know." He admitted. But his voice didn't waver. He didn't know, but he was sure about it now. "But I'm doing something. Get down. Get out of here."

Mr. Hashimoto backed away slowly, towards the front of the bus, in fear. Gaku tried to follow him, but Soutarou acted before he could move.

He released the ball of fire from his stand's hand. It was outrageously hot again, suddenly. He had been storing the heat that surrounded him, that Ryo had created, in that little ball of fire, and now he released it. He felt dizzy again, and burned. But sufficiently better than the first time he had been exposed to that heat. Maybe it was just because it wasn't as long this time; he had only been standing in this new heat for a few seconds now. He watched Gaku rock back and forth, overcome by the heat also. Ryo, with his increased heat tolerance, was just sitting there, glaring. There was heat in his eyes, like the heat that surrounded them, like an oven. It was as if Summer had decided to go all out for one day of the year, and then never return. The most intense summer he had ever witnessed. Minasato Summer. Or maybe Detroit Summer.

Soutarou willed the heat back inside that little ball. It worked, and everything was cold again. Something cracked. It might have been the metal roof of the bus, from the rapid changes in temperature. His action had had no effect, it seemed. Well, it had had an effect, but it didn't amount to anything; he had just reset that effect and changed things back to the way they were before - cold and icy. The Detroit Summer vanished.

Mr. Hashimoto had gotten off the bus by now, away from the noise and action. He couldn't be harmed now, or harmed as easily. That was good, because he was the one truly innocent person there.

"Was that it?" Ryo asked. Gaku, too, seemed relatively unfazed now, if a little surprised. He turned back towards Soutarou. He seemed surprisingly calm about Soutarou turning on him, too. Maybe he was used to it.

So his action hadn't worked. Soutarou chose the next best thing. He couldn't do that, but he could do something. He could always do something. He just kept telling himself: he could, he would, he can, he will, he could, he would, he can, he will. He would act, again, until everything was settled. He was determined; he was going to be the hero of his lifetime! He was going to solve every problem! Eventually! If he just took small enough steps. And that step had been a step in the wrong direction, but he could always try something. His stand ran as fast as it could, to punch Gaku in the face with one hand, and Ryo Kodori with the other. Before he could, Army shot him back again. Gaku kept Army out, too, in preparation for another attack. Soutarou was panting now; he hadn't realized it would be this much effort to use a stand. Of course it would be, he reasoned. His stand was behind him again now, toppled over on its back.

"You really shouldn't be attacking me too." Gaku said. He seemed forlorn about it, too. "You had set out upon all this to help me, didn't you? I may look evil, but-"

"He is evil." Ryo interrupted. "Don't listen to him, kid! He may have fooled you before, but not now. This is the man who killed his own father! Look into his soulless eyes! Don't listen to him!"

"Listen to me." Gaku began. "I-"

"He has a sick heart!"

"HE has a sick heart!" Gaku pointed to Ryo. Soutarou couldn't recall him ever raising his voice before, but he was now. This was serious, even more serious than being fried alive by Ryo's stand. "Listen to me, you can't-"

"No, listen to me." Ryo said.

"Both of you listen to me!" Soutarou said. "I may be dumb, okay? I get that. I don't know which one of you is lying. But!" He couldn't think of anything else. But what? But what? "But I'm going to figure it out. I can't listen to either of you, so I'm just going to knock you both out. That's fair, isn't it?"

"No." Ryo said immediately.

"Sure." Gaku said at the same time.

"Fine then." Ryo sighed exasperatedly, just to agree.

"Alright then, I'm- I'm glad that's settled." He tried to maintain his confidence. And perhaps it was working, even if his words faltered a little. He felt confident; power was running through him, no matter how tired he was. He was doing something, making progress, helping whoever needed to be helped right now, be it Gaku, or Ryo. He felt like he was decided which boy to pick in a love triangle book. He laughed at that; it was kind of funny. All of this ridiculous nonsense- it was basically just that! He probably looked funny, but he was smiling now. Earnestly, he thought. So he would knock them both out. He'd hurt them, but it was for their own good. To see who was in the right here he had to. He was acting now, not just going along. He was useful, making a difference. He had power now.

But he didn't have the power to knock them out, he realized. Well, maybe if Gaku didn't use Army to push him back again, he could. So he tried that. He made his stand run back up at them again, and punch them both with either hand. It was still holding the ball of fire, but it wasn't a very big ball of fire. It could be held within its hand while it threw punches. And he did that. Gaku didn't flinch. Ryo did.

But neither of them were hurt. They both just stared blankly at him.

"Was that it?" Ryo asked. "It doesn't actually have any destructive power? But it looks so... buff." He seemed pleasantly surprised, though.

"I'm amazed too." Gaku mused. "It looks like it can only really use its heat power."

Soutarou was embarrassed, but he tried not to let it show. So his stand was kind of useless. But he could always unleash his Detroit Summer again. Maybe if he could concentrate it he could effectively hurt them. Not too badly, just enough to knock them out. He tried to focus his mind on that. And he would need to focus it more harshly on Ryo too, because Ryo had increased heat tolerance from an entire lifetime of practicing with his mirror stand, Lakes. He felt the courage rise up within him. He didn't doubt himself now. He tried it, releasing the ball of fire again.

It grew mildly hot where he was, but not insanely so, like it had been the first time he released the Detroit Summer. Apparently he was calling it a Detroit Summer now. Hm.

Gaku went down fairly easily; it looked to be much more concentrated where he was, much hotter. Even Ryo was sweating. It took much longer for him to faint, a full minute maybe, and he looked much more pained through all of it. Like he was being beaten in his own element. Because he was being beaten in his own element. Previously it had been him who had the power to intensify heat, and it still was, Soutarou supposed, but he had just agreed to be knocked out, made defenseless. If he moved against it, that would be going against his word and Soutarou would trust him less. He needed Soutarou's trust more than anything else at that moment so he didn't have a choice.

"Alright, that's all." Soutarou said as Ryo passed out, even though no one could hear him, calling back the heat into the ball of fire again. He walked over to their bodies. Maybe corpses; he shuddered at that thought. He had just given them heat stroke. But it was for the best. He was doing good things, he had to be certain of that. And even if he wasn't doing good things necessarily, he was doing something. And something was better than nothing. He was being useful. He had stopped being useless. So there was improvement there.

He had stopped the fighting, hadn't he? No one had died today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will travel back to the Shun story, the A plot I guess, but right now this is what I'm thinking about. The Seventh Wonder can wait apparently, because it has been waiting. Quite a while, now.
> 
> also this is the longest chapter so far by a good margin


	28. The Seventh Wonder Gets Into Some Shit Probably Later But Oh Well Why Don't We Just Ignore The Fucking A Plot Kounosuke Will Appear In His Own Damn Time Apparently

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully by the end of Part 2 - The Part With The Bus - Gaku will have been on a bus for a good half the story.

Progress, was it? Yes, he had made progress.

He was worried about Gaku, though. He wasn't sure how he felt about him now, not sure what to believe, because he was so gullible to both sides' stories, that was a flaw he recently discovered about himself, but Gaku was still a person, and he clearly had less heat tolerance, and he had stayed in the Detroit Summer longer, so he was damaged, much more than Ryo was, even though Ryo had the broken leg. He had given both Gaku and Ryo heat stroke, but they would recover eventually. Gaku was so skinny, too; it was probably easier for him to feel the elements, like heat. He looked tired and kind of dead. Soutarou tested his pulse, with two fingers on his wrist. He was just unconscious, apparently. That was good. And Ryo was slumped over in the seat. He looked defeated and annoyed, and his leg was slightly bent in the middle of his shin. That looked rough, but it was just so he couldn't get away. Soutarou briefly considered breaking Gaku's leg also, but decided against it. It would feel too wrong to do that, and besides, he already had them both unconscious, so he couldn't get away anyway. Gaku was even more damaged than Ryo. So Soutarou wouldn't need to beat a broken man down; that was pointless.

What was the point of knocking them both out, even? They couldn't escape now, he supposed, but this would only be temporary. For Gaku, anyway. Maybe he should break Gaku's leg... But until they both woke up, he would have time to think. He looked over both of their collapsed bodies, drenched in sweat. He was going to solve this puzzle himself, apparently. He wanted to ask Shun for help, but Shun was biased, and also he couldn't contact anyone without a cell phone. He could call his mother, maybe, but he'd still need a phone. That was a great idea, actually, because she could advise him without giving biased information. She would focus too centrally on what was best for Soutarou himself, but that was okay, he supposed, if he could figure out who was right.

He could search their pockets, he realized. That would feel weird, but it was probably worth it. Gaku and Ryo both had jobs, it looked like. They were both dressed in business casual, Ryo slightly more formally, with dress pants instead of khakis, but they did both have jobs, and therefore, likely, both had cell phones.

He nudged Gaku to see if he was awake. He wasn't. Soutarou felt his pockets and didn't feel anything cell phone shaped, not even the shirt pocket. He might have something in his back pockets, he reasoned, but Soutarou decided he didn't really want to go that far. Mr. Hashimoto might have a cell phone even, if Ryo didn't have one. Mr. Hashimoto also had a lot of rage though, and it was maybe best not to mess with him. He was already outside the bus and away from potential danger, and Soutarou didn't want to drag him back into it, especially not after he had just ruined his livelihood, costing him his job, and potentially his family. It turned out his family was unharmed, but what if they hadn't been? Soutarou took too big a risk there, and he was determined not to make that mistake again. So he was growing as a person. That was good, wasn't it? He would find ways to help more people, and without hurting other people. That's what he was doing right now even, consulting his mother so he wouldn't accidentally hurt someone innocent. And one of the two was innocent.

He nudged Ryo to see if he had woken up any. He hadn't, it looked like for a moment, but Soutarou wanted to be extra cautious, so he waited a moment more. Nothing stirred, so he very carefully felt Ryo's shirt pockets. There seemed to be nothing inside. Something felt wrong about this, somehow. Ryo wasn't as hurt by the heat as Gaku was; there was a chance he could still be awake. Soutarou waited a moment before checking his pants pockets. In one of them, there was a piece of paper, it felt like, and also some boxish thing. That could potentially be a cellphone, he realized. He tried to pull it out carefully.

The paper fell to the floor, but he kept the cell phone in his hand. He had never operated one before, but all you had to do was flip the top up and push the right numbers, right? His mother's work number was 555 425 9090, but before he could type it in,

"Kid..." Ryo muttered.

Soutarou fell backwards, over Gaku's body, and into the opposite seat. That startled him like nothing else. He caught his breath for a moment before responding. But he didn't know how to respond to that, so he just said nothing. He just looked in horror at Ryo, half expecting a helpless plea, and half expecting a threat. He wanted to use his Detroit Summer again (it was still out, idly standing there, just draining energy, because he hadn't really thought about withdrawing it, and besides, if he did so, would that ball of fire be released? It wans't worth that risk), but he could only concentrate its effect so much, and Gaku was already really hurt from the ovenlike conditions. If he wanted to use it again, it was best to drag Gaku somewhere. And besides, Ryo hadn't done anything malicious, not yet.

"Kid." He repeated. His eyes still weren't open. "Sorry I... caught you off guard. I forgot your name. What was it?"

"S-Soutarou." He responded. "Touno." It hadn't even occurred to him to lie until after he said it.

"Soutarou... such a nice name." Ryo sighed. "You don't have any Ibuprofen, do you? Or water?"

He shook his head no, and then, realizing that Ryo couldn't see him, verbalized his response. "No. I'm sorry for uh, making this happen."

"No, it's fine." He sighed again. He seemed to be taking deep breaths. "I understand why you did that. There... there really was no need, though, I don't think."

He didn't know how to respond to that, so he just didn't. Ryo was going to try and convince him of his innocence again, probably, and Gaku's guilt, but he was biased. Soutarou was going to call his mother and sort all this out, once he could figure out how to get Ryo to stop talking. He already couldn't move, but he probably needed to be kept away from Gaku. If he dragged Gaku to the back of the bus, Ryo Kodori couldn't get to him, and then he could get off the bus and call his mother. That was a solution, it seemed like. He worried what Mr. Hashimoto was doing, though.

"I'm sorry." Ryo continued. "I shouldn't have lied to you."

"What?"

"I said Gaku, I mean, the insolent killed his father." He paused a moment, letting Soutarou soak that in. "He didn't. His father died of heart failure. It was really sudden, a really awful time for our whole family. He was my brother. I still miss him. I feel awful about lying."

So he wouldn't have to call his mother. That was his first thought. And his second thought was rage. Pure rage at Ryo for making him knock out Gaku for no good reason. He had been lied to! And he actually fell for it! What a gullible idiot he was, just believing everything anyone said! Ryo was weak and mostly defenseless, but Soutarou wanted to punch him! It was rude to kick a man while he was down, but sometimes you just deserved it. Ryo had tricked him! Now he was mad at both Ryo and himself! Guilt washed over him for hurting Gaku. So he had ruined two people today: the bus driver, and the person he was trying to help! How useless was he? He had been enlisted to help Gaku was, and he gave him heat stroke instead! What was the point then, if he was this useless?

He wanted to say something, something inflammatory, but Ryo began speaking again before he could. "I'm not a very honorable person, Soutarou." He seemed genuinely distraught at that.

"I know." He responded, trying to put an exceptionally mean edge on his words. It was useless, though; he just sounded like an idiot who had been tricked into knocking out the person he had been trying to protect.

"I lie."

"I'm aware." And he had also knocked out the person protecting him from Ryo. He was in danger now, wasn't he? Ryo couldn't escape, but he could do something, couldn't he? Soutarou's mind raced to figure out what kind of danger he could be in, but Ryo cut him off again.

"I yell at my own son. My own son."

He didn't know how to respond to that. For his credit, Ryo seemed genuinely guilty. He was a good liar, apparently, but this seemed heartfelt. Like he would have cried if he had the energy, and enough water in his body to cry with. He was dehydrated, wasn't he? From sweating under Detroit Summer so much.

"I just do whatever I'm told, because I have no sense of honor or ethics. Had I been born into any other family, I would have been a low life. Scum on the streets. I should be thankful for my position, shouldn't I be?"

"Um."

"I don't have any character of my own. I'm a pawn." He opened his eyes, but only slightly, like he was struggling to open them. He looked to be in a lot of pain. His eyes were watering, but only slightly.

"Okay."

"I'm a pawn. If it weren't for my parents?"

"If it weren't for your parents what?" Soutarou asked. That didn't sound like it was supposed to be a question. Ryo seemed genuinely hurt though, and if Soutarou wasn't currently so bitter, he would have wanted to help. He kind of wanted to help anyway. This was his element. It wasn't Detroit Summer. He just wanted to console someone. Ryo Kodori was evil, but he was in need of consoling right now. Hopefully this wasn't a trap. It better not be a trap. He took the risk that this wasn't a trap, and let himself be compassionate. This was much better... forgiveness, even with what Ryo had made him do.

"I would be stealing, I would be doing all sorts of awful things. I would be doing drugs. I would be the lowest of the low, I don't have any moral code of my own. I'm just a pawn, kid. I'm a pawn. I don't have any backbone, and the only backbone I do have is borrowed from other people. I did this because my father told me to. I'm so sorry." His voice was wavering. He would have been crying if he weren't so dehydrated. "I just do what my father says. I'm sorry."

"That's okay." Soutarou reassured him. "Please don't feel guilty, if this isn't your fault." Well, maybe it was partially Ryo's fault, but that wasn't what he needed to hear right now.

"It is my fault." He would have exclaimed it if he had the energy. "I just do whatever I'm told. I'm a grown man and all I do is what I'm told. I can't do anything on my own."

"That's not true." He said. He stood up, and moved closer to Ryo, even risking to sit in the same seat. "You do all sorts of things on your own." He couldn't think of any examples. "You go to work on your own everyday, don't you? No one has to drive you there? That's small, but it's something. You have free will."

"I go to work because my father says go to work. I don't want to work." He looked over to the window, which was frosted with ice and water droplets. He couldn't see outside. He looked like he wanted to drink it; he was understandably thirsty, after sweating so much from Detroit Summer.

"Well, what do you want to do?" Soutarou asked.

Ryo thought for a moment. "My leg hurts." Was all he said. "I think I need to be taken to the hospital, I think it's broken." And then, after a short moment, he realized "I can't even take myself to the hospital. Tell me to go to the hospital, so I will. I won't do it if you don't tell me." It was almost like a threat. "I'm a grown man, and I... need to be told what to do. Please, tell me to go to the hospital. My leg hurts so much."

Soutarou didn't say anything for a moment, thinking about what good he could do here. Ryo Kodori maybe didn't even deserve charity, but he deserved something, no matter what he did. He was still a person, just one without any decisive mind of his own. He just listened to whatever his parents said, apparently. "You don't need me to tell you that."

Ryo sighed. He was losing this battle. "I don't know what to do." He muttered. "I'm sorry I made you do this, you were only trying to help, weren't you? That kid broke the arrow and everybody's let's have him arrested. I was too, but just because everybody else was like that. I'm at fault for this."

"It's okay." Soutarou didn't want to tell him he wasn't at fault, because he definitely was - he had attacked the bus and all - but he wasn't evil, was he? Just obedient to a fault. And he was incredibly distraught right now. Soutarou wanted to help, but he didn't know exactly how. "Say, there are good parts of your life, aren't there?"

"I have a beautiful wife and a wonderful son." He responded bleakly. "I yell at both of them."

"Do you love them?" Soutarou asked. This was progress, kind of. He was helping, he was being useful.

"I don't express it."

"Well, try expressing it." He said. "I mean, I don't know how easy that will be in practice, but you can try, can't you?" He was hopeful. Ryo didn't look at him.

"But they don't tell me to." He argued. He was looking for a way, any way, to spin this negatively. He felt guilty right now, he wanted to be an evil pawn, just because he didn't want to be an evil pawn. The mind was weird like that sometimes; he was wallowing in guilt.

"Well I'm telling you." Soutarou offered.

"Really?" Ryo looked back to him, finally.

He nodded.

"Okay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay Ryo Kodori
> 
> I tried my best here. Ryo Kodori kind of wrote himself somehow though; I'm procrastinating doing school work.


	29. I Wrote a Fanfic Centering on Shun Kodori So I Could Ignore Him Completely

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> but here he is now hopefully

Soutarou's house was empty, the seventh wonder noticed. Shun noticed it also, but it was just barely in the back of his mind, because the Seventh Wonder was so far away. They had a connection, but it seemed to lessen the farther away they became from each other. He could just barely register it right now, and he could only really understand it if he was thinking "is Soutarou at home" to which the Seventh Wonder could reply as if it was underwater the words "no one is home". He had to think of exactly what it was doing, and then it could tell him its surroundings. He had to assume what it was doing, too. It was mostly independent. "What are you doing now?" he thought.

It was going to get someone else who could wait at the bus stop. Kyouji, who lived just across the street. He could be of use, couldn't he? "Go to Kyouji's house. Is he there?" Shun thought. He was careful not to say anything out loud, because he was being monitored by the best listener around. Even his mother, who didn't have the stand Harder Better Faster Stronger, would take notice of something obvious like that.

He was playing video games with her right now. Normally he went into sort of a zen like state when playing games, able to forget everything else and concentrate on the game, and he always won, but he was distracted right now. If he forgot everything else, the Seventh Wonder wouldn't be able to get someone to go to the bus stop, or at least Shun couldn't communicate with it anymore. And while it was sentient, it seemed, he wanted to be aware of everything it was doing, so everything would go according to whatever plan was being formulated. The plan he was formulating right now, or had already been formulated, Shun supposed: contact someone, and make them go to the bus stop to pick up Gaku on the bus's return to Minasato, and then escort Gaku to Soutarou's house, without letting him be seen by too many people. Someone with too casts was rather conspicuous.

His mother landed a hit on him. "Aha, I got you!" She pulled him out of his thoughts for a moment. She was just a beginner to this game, and even though Shun wasn't focused, she really stood no chance. He had already destroyed one of her lives. This was the second time she damaged him, but the first time was at the very beginning of the match, so she didn't think it would be rare.

"Good job." Shun congratulated her, adopted his peppy demeanor. Or should he try to look like he was superfixated on the game? That's normally what he did, but Ten hadn't really seen him play too many video games. He might think it suspicious. And he had already decided to ask bright and cheery like his normal self, so switching into that trance like state would be counterproductive now.

Ten watched them scrutinizingly, trying to look for things that seemed off or wrong. He was the best observer around, reasonably, and had to observe everything Shun did. Shun had outsmarted him, and Ten had probably figured that out, but he hadn't figured out exactly how, so Shun was safe. Ten thought Shun was angry with him or something though, and that just wasn't the case. Shun felt guilty that Ten felt guilty, but he put that aside. He had more important things to concern himself with, and besides, what was the point of feeling guilty? It wasn't going to solve anything, and it wasn't going to make Ten feel any better, so why bother with negative things like that? Shun only concerned himself with happy things, unless something was critically important, like the situation with Gaku. Which was why he needed the Seventh Wonder to get someone to the bus stop as soon as possible.

Kyouji was home, the Seventh Wonder said. But it wasn't too concerned with him at the moment.

"What are you, am I, concerned with?" Shun thought to it.

"Aw, you killed me." Kyo interrupted. It was hard to speak to the Seventh Wonder and her at the same time, but he kind of had to speak to her right now.

"Good game." He smiled faux guiltily. "Wanna play again?" He asked. Playing video games and controlling his stand at the same time was kind of difficult, but carrying an actual conversation and controlling his stand was bound to be even more difficult, so it was probably best to try and keep playing, and not risk starting any conversation.

"Kounosuke has appeared and he is very intrigued with me," The Seventh Wonder said, as if underwater. It sounded like it was shouting from very far away - probably because that was exactly what it was doing.

"No thanks, I don't even compare to you in skill level." Kyo chuckled. "Maybe Ten wants to play?" She playfully pointed at him with the controller.

"Why is he intrigued?" Shun thought to his stand.

"No thank you." Ten held up his hand as a sign of refusal. "Shun, can you tell me why that is?"

"What?" His attention was suddenly sucked back into the situation around him - Ten was refusing to play video games. And he was testing if Shun was listening, or focused on something else. He was kind of scary, like that. His stand was the one way he was truly scary. It wasn't in his statue, and it wasn't in his nature, it was his powers. He had just highlighted Shun's waned focus. And he shouldn't have said "What" in response to that, because that showed he wasn't paying attention. "What" was the worst possible response he could have given, and he elected to give it. How did he recover from that? He didn't have time to think.

But luckily his mother saved him. "That's a weird question." She joked. "Why don't you tell me why that is yourself, since you're the one refusing to play, Mr. Grumpypants?"

"Firstly, I wish to be honorable and with my stand, I would be cheating. I cannot recall it in my position, as I have a very important task to do, and, especially as a competitive game is being played, I would win, regardless of Shun's skill level. It's unfair, and against any code of honor." He responded plainly and coldly.

"Well, Shun beat me really easily. It's fair, I think, if you both have fun!" Kyo said. She was really oddly peppy at the moment, in part because she didn't have as good a grasp on what was going on, and in part because she thought it would help Shun somehow, to act natural. While she was normally cheery, she wasn't the best actor. And besides Shun had already given himself away, unless he found a way to recover from it somehow. He wanted to signal to her that she could stop the act, but Ten would pick up the signal far more easily using his stand, and causing her to stop acting now would indicate that it had been an act. Not that she was acting extremely different, Shun noticed. She just normally didn't question things - her words showed she was acting, not her tone or mood. So maybe she was a good actor. It was kind of hard to tell. Maybe that was her plan, to confuse Ten. Maybe if he had focused more on her rather than the Seventh Wonder he would have picked that up. He cursed himself. "So it's worth a try, don't you think?" She went on.

Ten shook his head. "I don't cheat. And besides, those things are demonic. Why not play out in the real world, if you have to be childish and play. Not to insult you, I'm talking about Shun, not to insult him either." Ten was only three years older than him, but still considered him a child. That was reasonable, he supposed. He acted like one; he meant to. Ten was the polar opposite of him, it seemed. Ten was old beyond his years, and Shun was determined to stay young forever. There was no point in living if you weren't going to have fun while doing it. Life was what you made it, so why make it something cold and boring?

"Well, I think too much is bad for you, sure," Kyo reasoned, "but just a little won't hurt, will it?"

"You're awfully insistent." Ten said simply, to shut her down. "I already told you: I don't cheat."

Kyo sighed. "Well okay then." She turned to Shun. "What's your plan on what to do now, honey?"

He thought for a moment, and then shrugged. "I'd like to just play more games, a different one this time though, if you're cool with that." It was the easiest option; he could focus on the Seventh Wonder without too much distraction. He could play video games without falling into a trance, even though he most often succumbed to that urge. It was an escape, and now he was escaping from troubling his mind with other things, like conversation. He had already given himself away anyway, but Ten couldn't figure out what he had been focusing on instead, so it wasn't as if all was lost or anything. Ten still had to figure out what he was doing. And it would be harder if Shun wasn't talking, though he worried Ten might prompt him to speak. Besides, he could have fun while he was talking to the Seventh Wonder, and that was always good. There was no point in doing the most reasonable thing if he could have fun while doing the second most reasonable thing. Whatever the first most reasonable thing was.

"Do I have to play again?" Kyo asked. "Because if so nuh uh I am not cool with that. You're too good!" She chuckled at that.

"No, you don't have to play." Shun answered. "I was thinking about playing a different one, a singleplayer game."

"Oh, thank the Lord." She laughed, walking into the kitchen. "Have fun with that. Do you or Ten want something to eat?"

"No thank you," He and Ten responded simultaneously; they were both too focused on each other, it seemed. Ten went on though, just to be more formal. "I am sorry to decline an invitation from a wonderful host such as yourself, but I am rather full, and I need to watch what I eat anyway."

Kyo shrugged and disappeared. Now Shun could truly focus. He put in a 2D JRPG, and as much as he wanted to become absorbed into it, kept his mind out of the game mostly. Right now, he decided, he would just grind off random encounters. "What's Kounosuke doing?" He thought to the Seventh Wonder. He thought he had said it aloud for a moment, but Ten hadn't reacted in any way, so he had probably just thought it.

"He's taking pictures," It responded, through the normal far away voice. It was barely audible. "He doesn't think I'm you, which is what I told him."

"Well you're not me," Shun responded, mentally. It wasn't hard to keep his conversation in his head, but it seemed extraordinarily difficult, probably just because of Ten's supervision. If he weren't under pressure, he wouldn't be having this reaction. "Is he taking pictures of you?"

"Yes," The Seventh Wonder responded. It didn't ask anything, because it was so far away, but Shun could tell it wanted to ask "should we trust him to go to the bus stop to retrieve Gaku?", because that's what he would have asked, the Seventh Wonder was an extension of him, as his stand. Kounosuke was kind of scatterbrained, and not super trustworthy - it might tell someone, so if Kyouji could be reached, it was probably best not to send him on this fetch quest. But now that Kounosuke was there, he wasn't likely to leave. His curiosity had been piqued, and he wasn't the type of person to drop something curious. He would tell people regardless of what was going to happen, probably follow the Seventh Wonder and Kyouji to the bus stop. He was really a problem. Shun needed to think of a way to get rid of him, not because Kounosuke was a bad person or anything, but just because he couldn't keep his mouth shut.

Except he didn't need to get rid of Kounosuke. Because he would forget everything. And anyone he told would also forget everything. Shun could feel himself smiling. Once he recalled the Seventh Wonder, everyone would forget everything that it caused, and logical, or at least semi-logical reasons would occur to explain everything that it caused. It was totally secret. So Kounosuke could interact with it all he wanted and Shun would suffer no repercussions. Now Kounosuke was the type of person to want to get to the bottom of any situation he couldn't figure out how he got in, but he really would have no way of knowing. And any way he did figure out would make him a bizarre conspiracy theorist.

Actually, thinking about it, he didn't need anyone to escort Gaku to Soutarou's house anyway. Why had he been concerned with that? He paused for a moment, pondering that. He had just gotten too worried, maybe. Gaku could see the Seventh Wonder. He wouldn't know how he had gotten to Soutarou's house after the fact, and no one could be able to explain it to him, but he would have gotten there. Or maybe that was why. Shun wanted Gaku to get to Soutarou's house through the least bizarre means possible. And Kounosuke could help with that.

"Tell Kounosuke to come to the bus stop with you," Shun directed.

"Why so happy?" Ten asked suddenly. For a moment Shun was worried he had said something aloud, but he didn't think that was the case. He hadn't actually spoken, had he? Ten wasn't acting like he was, anyway. He had just picked up the shift in his mood.

"I'm making a lot of progress." Shun explained, gesturing to the game. "I've gained a lot of levels. My guys have increased in power."

Ten wasn't satisfied with that explanation, but he begrudgingly accepted it. "I see..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a little bit of dramatic irony never hurt anyone except wait it actually did


	30. The Phone Rings Ominously *Ghost Noises*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> proofreading and editing are for nerds who care about the quality of what they write

Shun ground on random encounters for a little more. His weakest party member, the cleric, had gained three levels so far, but he was the hardest to train. He was catching up to everyone else, but he was taking his sweet time in doing so. And he had made progress in other ways; Kounosuke and the Seventh Wonder we're currently heading to the bus stop, to take Gaku to Soutarou's house. If the Seventh Wonder escorted him alone, then Gaku would have absolutely no idea what got him there really, and Shun wouldn't be able to explain it either, because he too would forget about the Seventh Wonder. Random wandering would be too suspicious to explain, and Soutarou was completely unaccounted for. That was kind of worrying. Soutarou didn't even know where he could be; he was diligent about this sort of thing, entwined with his utility. So he was doing something else important. He might already be at the bus stop, Shun realized. That was the most likely scenario, even. Luckily though, if that was the case, the Seventh Wonder could be recalled immediately, and, as Soutarou hadn't interacted with it, there would be nothing suspicious that couldn't be explained. Soutarou was pretty gullible too, so even if there was something concerning, he could be lied to and convinced. It would be harder to convince Kounosuke of completely normal surroundings, but Kounosuke often forgot things anyway. Really there wasn't anyone better the Seventh Wonder could have run into. It was a lucky coincidence.

The more Shun thought about it, the happier he became with himself. Such a long time of telling himself everything would work out and it finally did! Or was about to, anyway. Gaku was going to be okay, he was sure of it. He found happiness within him, and almost succumbed to the allure of the game he was playing. He couldn't let it pull him in, though, because then he couldn't focus on the Seventh Wonder. As little the possibility of his failure was at this point, it was still best not to risk losing his focus. He managed to keep the game and the Seventh Wonder in his mind, trying not to let the game overpower the Seventh Wonder.

"Where are you now?" He asked it.

It sounded even farther away now, more than before. It was barely audible, like someone whispering from the other side of a room. He... couldn't quite understand it. That was okay though, because everything was going to be okay. There was no point in being a pessimist. So he asked again: "Where are you now? Speak louder please, if you can."

It sounded muted, but just audible now. "We're on our way there..." Which was very auspicious.

Suddenly the phone rang. Shun turned around from the game he was playing to look across the room, tempted to get the phone, because it might be someone he liked, which was everyone, but if it was Iwao, that would mean he had probably figured something out, or was just angry with Shun. Ten had definitely figured something out, but it was only that Shun was up to something and was using his stand somehow, doing something. Had he communicated with Iwao? Or anyone? Or was it Ryo maybe, reporting that he was coming home soon? That seemed to be the most likely scenario - it was either his father, HIS father, or a telemarketer. He wanted to get it anyway, but he knew Ten would recognize that as suspicious.

Iwao didn't use technology though, he remembered. So it couldn't be Iwao; only Ryo or a telemarketer.

Or it could be Soutarou. Panic raced through him at the thought. Soutarou of all people had the best intentions, but communicating was a terrible idea. He would either give a reason why he couldn't be at the bus stop, or ask how to get Gaku or something. He didn't have a mobile phone, so he couldn't explain anything from the bus stop. And he would probably try to give his message in code, but Ten would see right through that, and if he didn't, Shun wouldn't either, because Ten was better at understanding codes than Shun. He wished they had Caller ID.

"I'll get it!" Kyo walked out of the kitchen to retrieve it; the phone was mounted on the wall of the living room.

"No, I've got it." Ten said, blocking her path with his arm. He was walking there too, but slightly faster, while still maintaining his intimidating presence. Shun held his breath unconsciously as Ten picked it up from the wall. Ten stared at him for a moment because of that, but Shun faked a cough to make it look like that was the reason. Ten was already suspicious of him anyway, though, so that was really unnecessary.

"Hello." Ten said to the person on the other side. Then, "Yes" Then, "I'm sorry, but you can't" Then, "I love you too" Then, "So are you hurt?" Then, "I'm sorry but I can't do that,. It's not as if I don't trust you, I would just rather not risk it, is there someone else there?" Then, "Yes but he's still there, did he hurt you?" Then, "I won't kill him but if I get the chance I might be able to hurt him," Then, "I never said he deserved it, but it's necessary." Then, "Then why are you defending him if you don't like him either? He knocked you out?" Then, "Forgive my tone, but you were indeed defending him."

Shun ran through the possibilities of who it could be. Someone was hurt, and another person had hurt him, but had valid reason. So it wasn't Soutarou, and it wasn't a telemarketer. That meant it was his father, Ryo. There was always the possibility that it could be someone else, but Shun knew it was Ryo. There really wasn't another likely option. And someone had hurt him, apparently. And it probably wasn't Gaku, if Ryo was talking about him highly at all. Maybe he had been in a car accident, but he didn't blame the other person? That was kind of worrying. Whatever it was, it was worrying, because his father had been hurt. He ran the possibilities through his mind - he had encountered Gaku somehow, or figured out Gaku was missing from his residence somehow. Gaku could have hired someone to guard his house, which was scary, and unlikely, well, Shun wasn't really sure how likely it was. Gaku was kind of unpredictable in the most boring manner possible. So it could be a car accident, or that, or something he hadn't thought of. It was probably something he hadn't thought of.

"Who are you talking to?" His mother asked.

Ten ignored her, and continued speaking with Ryo. "I won't hurt him then," Then, "You gave him a stand?" Then, "I'll put you on speaker then." He turned to face the both of them. "Shun and Kyo are here."

"Hello." Ryo's tired voice came through the phone. "I just, I wanted to say I love you."

Shun hadn't expected that. What had he been discussing? And he sounded pained too, like something was hurting. Obviously something was hurting; he and Ten were talking about it earlier. "I love you too." He responded, truthfully, but there was confusion and distrust in his voice. He felt like some awful news was about to hit.

"Oh sweetie, I love you too." Kyo said, more emphatically. "You sound hurt. What's wrong?"

"My leg was broken. And I have heat exhaustion. But I'll be fine. I'm just, I'm sorry I yell at you all the time. Both of you. I really am, I know I shouldn't."

"It's fine." Shun assured him. How the heck did his father get heat exhaustion? His stand utilized heat exhaustion; he had built up a strong resistance to the heat over many years. What happened? Was it the new stand user? Shun was worried, partly because his father was hurt, and partly because now there was a new and unpredictable player in the game.

"Oh no, it's fine!" Kyo repeated. "Everyone yells at who they love! It's a sign of love, I never held it against you. Please tell me what's wrong."

"I'm wrong." He responded bluntly. Then he sighed when no one said anything, because no one really knew what to say. Shun wanted to reassure him, but he didn't know how. This wasn't the situation where he could distract his father to make him happy, this was important, and he was about to receive important information, and besides, it would be wrong somehow. He didn't know how, but this wasn't a time to be happy. Shun's joy wouldn't mean anything to him. Ryo continued. "I'm sorry I'm not good with you, and I can't even promise I will be in the future, but. But just know I do love you, no matter how I act. I really don't express it enough."

"Oh honey..." Kyo didn't know how to react; her voice was sugar with pity.

"I love you too." Shun repeated again; he didn't know what else to say, really. That was all he could say. Awful as it was, he found his mind not even focusing on his father's mental state, but on the new stand user, or whatever gave Ryo heat exhaustion, which was probably a new stand user. It wasn't as if he wasn't concerned with his father's breakdown, but there were bigger issues right now. His father could be comforted later, he supposed. But he shouldn't worry about that, he realized. That would be wasting time on something that wasn't his father, and his father was what was important right then and there.

"So do I." Kyo added. "Are you okay? Do you need me to come get you?"

After a short moment, he responded. "Yes, that would be, that would be wonderful. I hope you don't hate me or anything. I think my leg is broken, and I need to go to the hospital." So his leg was broken too? It was probably Gaku who did that; Gaku or the other person.

"Of course I don't hate you." Kyo said. She was clutching her heart, as if she could feel him there. "Sweetie, why would you think that? We need to get you a doctor quick!"

"Thank you." Ryo responded. He sounded overjoyed and forlorn at the same time. "Thank you, I can't, I can't do enough for you." Kyo was about to say "you're welcome," but he cut her off. "Do you remember when we first met?" He asked. "It was on our wedding day. My father chose you because you were from a powerful family up North, that also owned a shrine, but they didn't have stands like we did. But we didn't know each other. How could love blossom in those circumstances at all? I was always so thankful, and eventually I warmed up to you, it didn't even take very long. I don't think I was even hesitant, I was so lonely. Don't you remember how I was?" He chuckled a little at that.

"You were so awkward." She said in fond recollection. "You fumbled your vows, and, well, Shun is here, and so is Ten, so that's all I'm going to say. But you were just..."

"I was looking forward to it and I didn't know at all what I was expecting." Ryo finished for her. "I didn't know what you were like at all. I want to say I loved you from the moment I first saw you but I know that isn't true. And you,"

"I was scared at first." She completed. "But I saw you were just a little eager, not a scary person, as I thought you were. I tried to put on a brave face at first, I was too resilient." She paused a moment, smiling. "But I realized I didn't need to, after a while. You may be,"

"Boring?"

"Typical, but you weren't boring, silly. You just couldn't wait until you had a peaceful life in the middle of nowhere, even though that's already what you had. You just wanted it with someone, with me. And I,"

"You wanted to be independent." Ryo said.

"Yes," She laughed at that. "How foolish I was. I don't need to be independent to be happy, and I never did. I thought it was a sign of strength. I'm with you and I'm happy now. I'm just, I'm happy now."

"So you really do love me?" He asked a final time. "You forgive me?"

"Yes." She said genuinely. "You never did anything wrong. I can't say it was from the moment I first saw you, but I just needed a little time to fall in love, you know? And I did, I think we did that together."

"We did." He said. They paused for a moment, allowing each other to absorb that. "And Shun," he said.

"Yes?" He was caught off guard by that. He'd been focusing on their conversation (it was rather sweet), but for some reason he hadn't expected himself to be dragged into it.

"You're the most wonderful person to ever grace this Earth." He said. "I love you, with all my heart, I can't say that enough, both of you."

"I love you too." He responded.

"Do you forgive me?"

Shun hesitated a moment, in slight confusion. "Because you think you're a bad father?"

"Am I?" He asked. His voice wavered slightly.

"No, of course not." Shun chuckled. "Of course not."

"Do you want us to come get you?" Kyo asked.

"Yes, I..." Ryo struggled for a moment. "I really would. I'm really hurt. Ten, he can tell you where I am. You can do that, can't you Ten?"

Ten seemed kind of angry about it, but only because he didn't get as much information on the circumstances as he would have liked. He wanted to know who the new stand user was, and how badly Ryo had been hurt, it looked like. He had heat exhaustion and a broken leg... What could have caused that? "Yes." Ten responded simply. "You're on the road to Kazenari Near the gas station?"

"Yes." Ryo nodded. "And, before I hang up, I just, I love you all okay?"

Shun and his mother responded simultaneously. "I love you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END OF PART II - The Part With The Bus
> 
> literally all of Part II Gaku's been on a bus, and most of the plot of Part II has happened there. This means my life goal has been accomplished. I genuinely have no idea when I will stop writing this; whenever it wraps itself up super neatly. Because it was wrapped up at the end of Part I, and it is again now, but not like, super wrapped up, ya know? Actually this isn't really wrapped up very neatly but whatever


	31. Bb Bb A Ab Ab G

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Behold My Stand - The Backstreet Boys. Their power is that, no matter how many times they are killed, they return. There are like five(?) guys and they have no power other than immortality and normal human powers. The only way to kill them is to put them in a soundless vacuum.
> 
> Start of PART III - The Part With Kounosuke (Hopefully)
> 
> this probably isn't the most suitable time for this but honestly I headcanon that Shun is a DAMN good liar. especially to himself. i mean that's the whole deal with his route, isn't it? He's not manipulative, though, he just wants to be happy all the time. Shun would do drugs if given the chance is what I'm trying to say here, if his family didn't probably look down on them so much.

Soutarou leaned back as Ryo made the phone call, trying to blend into the background of what had just happened, because Ryo couldn't really go on and tell his family about Soutarou, if they were as allied as he currently believed. Ryo respected him, at least a little, there was something of friendship even though there was no reason for it. Maybe Ryo wasn't very used to defeat, maybe he wasn't so used to battling and having his own power used against him. He had been trained since birth to use his stand, hadn't he? But how many times had he actually used it? Did he like getting knocked down a peg? Was that even what just happened? Soutarou reasoned probably not; if Ryo wanted to fight he could've found a way; he could have continued his lie. He had already used Soutarou to knock out Gaku, so he was progressing, even with a broken leg. All he would have had to do was to beat Soutarou, which probably wouldn't be difficult. Well Lakes only used reflections didn't it? It couldn't really defeat something like Detroit Summer, but he could have preserved himself longer. Why hadn't he? Soutarou still felt powerful. He felt useful.

He liked this feeling. Triumph, was it? Accomplishment? Those were really the same thing though, weren't they?

He had withdrawn Detroit Summer before handing the phone back to Ryo, and the heat hadn't come back, luckily. He was just getting too tired to maintain it; he was inexperienced with stands.

He was worried about Gaku, though. All this coming to save him and he had ended up knocking him unconscious. That was counterintuitive and not very triumphant or accomplishing at all. He had been dumb enough to believe Ryo's lie and now he had given the person he had come to assist heat exhaustion. But he could still provide help, once he got home. Or once he got to Shin's house, rather; that's where he'd be doing all the assisting. With Shin's butler, of course. But it would be mostly him, he had already decided that, even if it was somewhat against his mother's wishes.

Ryo hung up the phone, looking oddly complacent. He looked tired, but happy. Reassured. Loved. All those nice things that bad people like him didn't normally get. That's what Ryo was thinking. He turned to the window then, and said nothing. Soutarou had handed him his phone back so he could call an ambulance, but he called his family instead. Which was fine, Soutarou supposed. They apparently needed to do some sort of talk, to save one another from despair. Shun had been at the other end of that, he realized. Ryo had spoken directly to Shun at one point, hadn't he?

He didn't want to interrupt Ryo's picturesque window staring, but he had to, for Gaku's sake. He needed to call someone to come get him, because God knew the Kodoris wouldn't be too fond of his presence. They might even be... actively hostile, whoever was coming to get Ryo. So Soutarou needed to call an ambulance, or his mother. Preferably both. Except calling his mother might be a bad idea because she was at work right now and took the bus to work. And the bus was, well, not in working condition. So it would be better to call Shin's house and have Amaki come get him. And also hide Gaku until then.

Ryo was friendly, or at least friendly enough. So he probably wouldn't hurt Soutarou. And he could probably tell whoever was coming to get him not to hurt Soutarou or Gaku, but there was no telling they would obey. Gaku had broken the arrow, so they were all against him, weren't they? And it was his wife coming to get him, wasn't it? His wife Kyo and Shun. Shun had a powerful stand and he might be able to hide Soutarou from Kyo, but that might not be the best idea, because she could still ask Ryo. Or could she? He didn't know exactly how Shun's stand worked. It was powerful, and it dealt with memory, and stopped Ten from finding Gaku on the bus earlier. So it might be able to hide Gaku again in the same way, but it was better not to risk it, especially since he had already given Gaku other risky things to worry about, like being unconscious and dehydrated.

"Can I have the phone?" He asked. Ryo would probably give it to him, wouldn't he? Ryo had switched sides, pretty much.

He turned to face Soutarou again, with that tired exasperated look, like he was being bothered. He looked like he was pitying Soutarou. He spoke slowly. "I'm sorry."

Is that all he ever said? Granted, he had a lot of things to be sorry about, but this was a reasonable request. He was nice now, wasn't he? He wasn't evil anymore? "What?" Soutarou responded, baffled. "I promise I won't hurt you or nothin' by calling someone or anything. I just need to call my friend so he can take Me and Gaku home."

"I'm sorry." He repeated simply. "But I cannot allow you to do that. I have given as little information about you as possible, that's about as much I can do for you." After a brief silence where Soutarou was too disgusted to say anything, he continued. "You're a good kid. I'm sorry I lied to you, and I'm sorry I can't let you call your friend, but I just really can't. Please understand."

That was nice of him to say that, Soutarou reasoned, but he still really needed to call the Kuroi household. And an ambulance, if Gaku was injured that badly. He still wasn't awake yet, but he was alive. Soutarou had taken his pulse a while back. To reassure himself, he tried to feel Gaku's heartbeat again as he responded. "I, uh, really do need to call my friend. And I need an ambulance also, I think. I kinda..."

"Yes I know." Ryo shrugged. "But there isn't much I can do about it. You can go and hide in the woods if you want. Take the insolent with you. I'm sure Ten would be able to find you, but hopefully Ten isn't coming, right?" He sighed. "I'm sorry I'm like this. My leg really hurts." Gaku was still alive at least; Soutarou could feel his pulse. And see the gentle rise and fall of his chest, too. He should have just taken that as a sign of life.

"That's... not an excuse." He said slowly, trying to think through Ryo's words. He didn't want to have to resort to taking the phone from Ryo to call Shin, but that might be what he had to do, it looked like. Ryo was wracked with guilt, but he was still too stubborn to give up the phone. He almost wanted to use psychological manipulation and say something along the lines of "don't obey everything your father says; you can give the phone to me, because you're not a pawn" but he wasn't that kind of person; he wasn't mean like that. He couldn't think of anything meaningful other than that to say though, so he was left grasping at words. "You've... changed, haven't you?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"You don't want to kill me any more."

"I never wanted to kill you. Or even hurt you." Ryo sighed, annoyed with himself. "My father told me to. I, I don't have any free will, really. I..."

"Are you scared of what will happen if you try an' protect me?" Soutarou asked. That was the most reasonable thing he could think of. Ryo Kodori was really just a scared person, wasn't he? He lived on the orders of other people, his parents specifically. And it was his parents now telling him not to help Soutarou. Indirectly of course, but it was still their will that kept Soutarou from getting the help he needed. So he was really being setting up here, wasn't he? Kyo would definitely arrive before Shin and Amaki at this rate, and while Shun would be there, he couldn't take Soutarou home, really. He would just have to put his faith in Shun's stand, it looked like.

Ryo shrugged. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry." Soutarou said. "I understand how you feel. I'm just... you know what, I can use someone else's phone." That seemed reasonable, he thought. It would help both him and Ryo, because Ryo wouldn't have to disobey, and he wouldn't have to force Ryo to do anything, which he didn't want to do. A compromise, wasn't it? It felt unfair somehow, but it was wrong on him to intrude upon someone else's feelings like that. Ryo couldn't give the phone to him, so what? He could use someone else's, or even the bus driver's. Mr. Hashimoto probably had a phone. Whether he was willing to give it to Soutarou... that was a different story. Someone else probably had a phone though.

"Thank you." Ryo muttered.

So Soutarou stood up and considered walking away, but he needed to drag Gaku with him, didn't he? There was a guarantee at this point the Kodoris would arrive first, and Shun would probably protect them then, but Gaku couldn't be left on the bus. Ryo, while not evil, might still damage him further. Gaku was already drenched in sweat and dehydrated; Ryo could dehydrate him more by making more heat. It was better not to risk it, wasn't it?

"What are you doing?" Ryo asked when Soutaou picked Gaku up.

"I want him to come with me." Soutarou grunted. Gaku was actually rather light for a person; despite his height, he was about as heavy as a sack of flour. He wasn't light exactly, but his lightness was kind of unnerving. He was probably even more emaciated looking under his shirt; Soutarou briefly wondered if he could count his ribs. Gaku was all fur and bone, and overall much less effort than should be required to pick up a person. It was still difficult though, mostly due to his size. There was no simple way to hold him, it looked like, because he was much larger than Soutarou. Maybe he would have to be dragged.

"I'm sorry I won't give you my phone." Ryo said again. "And I'm sorry for attacking you earlier. I'm... sorry for a lot of things. You forgive me, don't you?"

Soutarou waited a moment before responding. He felt disturbed somehow, but he realized he had already forgiven Ryo, wholeheartedly. Ryo hadn't really changed apparently, but he had never really been in the wrong, had he? He just had some issues that he needed to sort out. "Of course." Soutarou said.

"Thank you." Ryo smiled genuinely at that. "Really, I can't thank you enough. I'm... sorry for all that I did and will do, but thank you."

Soutarou just nodded, and smiled back to him. Ryo's head ducked out of sight then; he was cradling it in his hands, probably. Was he crying? It was hard to know. Tears of joy, probably. He just really wasn't in a good place right now. Or maybe he was. He had found happiness, or at least something resembling it. And he was expressing that, even if it was with an overabundance of apologies.

It was kind of difficult to drag Gaku down the steps of the bus onto the asphalt, but it was doable. He worried that he was jostling him a little too much, maybe hurting things even more. Gaku wasn't heavy, just hard to maneuver. Like a giant styrofoam cube, or a large cardboard box. He tried to let Gaku rest on the bottom step. He was set down awkwardly, but he was sitting. His body slumped to one side. Soutarou stood up to admire his handiwork; there wasn't a great deal to be admired, but he hadn't hurt Gaku any, it looked like. Any more than he already had, anyway.

It started raining.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Injury Count:
> 
> Gaku - 2 Broken Hands even though you can't "break" your hand, one of his hands has a cast the other doesn't, Heat Exhaustion, Dehydration
> 
> Ryo - Broken Leg, Dehydration, Heat Exhaustion I guess


	32. The Bus and the Rain, a Folk Tale That Is Actually a Chapter of a Fan Fiction for a Furry Dating Sim, Something Most of Human History Never Knew

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For my personal fursona stand, I think I've come up with the fairly decent Woods (which I wrote myself brag brag). It makes my enemy keep walking until they are out of range of me, or until they are too exhausted to move anymore.
> 
> http://doomed-dirk.tumblr.com/post/149572986662/fairy-static-woods
> 
> And for Michi Hashimoto, Waiting For the Bus in the Rain.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CXiB5n883I

The rain started as soon as he had gotten off the bus. It seemed like it had just started too, because the ground around him wasn't yet wet. Raindrops hit the asphalt, darkening it. Because of the heat of the surroundings, steam rose up from the ground. It was a pleasant rain, it felt like. It was relieving, really, a godsend to escape the omnipresent heat. Soutarou looked up to the sky to view the clouds he hadn't even noticed earlier. Summer was like that and rains could come very suddenly, but he hadn't recalled any cloud cover at all. Just a clear blue sky.

There was still a clear blue sky. With no cloud cover at all.

He was hesitant to set Gaku on the asphalt, because it was probably really hot even with the rain, and what if he drowned somehow? The rain wasn't particularly heavy, but lying down in the rain, face up, didn't sound pleasant. He tried to prop Gaku up against the side of the bus, next to the empty pocket where the wheel had been previously. Gaku retained a sitting position somewhat successfully, so Soutarou turned to the crowd.

They were disorganized, shuffled, talking amongst themselves annoyedly. They didn't seem too involved with him for some reason, though. That was fortunate. Mr. Hashimoto stood apart from the rest, looking somewhere above him, in the distance. Soutarou followed his line of sight, and then he saw it: the cloud that was causing the rain. It hadn't existed before, had it? It was fairly large, small for a cloud, and low-flying. It took an interesting formation: it looked vaguely humanoid, but lying down, and facing upward. It had wispy inconsistent features. It looked godlike, almost. Paranormal. Then it dawned on him. That was Mr. Hashimoto's stand, wasn't it?

It wasn't actively, he wasn't actively malicious, right now anyway. It was just causing rain. Actually pleasant rain, too. Not helpful exactly. He took his eyes off the stand, and looked back to Mr. Hashimoto. Who had disappeared. He couldn't have gone far, could he have? Soutarou looked around wildly, in hopes of finding him. But he was gone. Just completely disappeared.

A voice came from where he had just been standing. "You can see it too, right?" It was Mr. Hashimoto's voice, with an undercurrent of fear. Fear and... something like anger?

Soutarou was tentative to answer. He looked back up at the majestic cloud stand again. Yes, he could see it. But he couldn't see Mr. Hashimoto. He could feel the rain, that was coming from it. That was a stand power, wasn't it? It was surprisingly benign. Nothing about it was threatening, except that he couldn't see Mr. Hashimoto now. Well, Ryo's stand had seemed nonthreatening at first too, hadn't it? But he was incredibly strong. Soutarou was only able to knock him out because he allowed it to happen. But Ryo had trained since birth with his stand. Mr. Hashimoto had gotten his just a few minutes ago. And Soutarou was in the same boat, but he had slightly more experience. Mr. Hashimoto hadn't really activated his until now. To Soutarou's knowledge, at least.

"Lion kid." Mr. Hashimoto said. "You're looking at it. You can see it too, right?"

He was kind of pressured into responding now. So he did. "The cloud thing?"

"Yes." Soutarou turned back to Mr. Hashimoto then, to find him standing there, exactly where he had been previously. And strangely dry, given that it was raining. It was his own stand power, Soutarou supposed, causing the rain, so that made a fair amount of sense? Why was Soutarou able to see him now though? Was that also part of his stand power? "It's my stand, isn't it?" Mr. Hashimoto continued. "What does it do?"

Soutarou didn't know how to answer. "It causes rain." He offered. "I don't know what else."

"Does it do something else?" He asked.

"Yeah, but I'm not quite sure." He said without thinking. "Before, I couldn't see it, until I saw you lookin' at it. But then when I looked at it, i couldn't see you, until I looked it again." He probably shouldn't have answered, because Mr. Hashimoto already didn't like him and now Soutarou had just given him somewhat of an advantage, but it was still okay, right? Mr. Hashimoto may not like him, but he wasn't actively malicious. Even Ryo Kodori hadn't been actively malicious. He didn't want to get up hopes of his safety or anything, but he doubted Mr. Hashimoto would hurt him.

He would definitely hurt Ryo though, and maybe Gaku. That was worrying to think about. Ryo deserved it kind of, but he wasn't evil. He didn't deserve to be hurt. If Mr. Hashimoto's stand could even hurt people, that was. It looked right now to have no real offensive capabilities, unless that weird invisibility power could be used offensively. It probably could.

"Is it a curse?" Mr. Hashimoto asked. "Everything in my life is wrong right now, I don't see how it couldn't be a curse."

"It ain't a curse." Soutarou assured him. It really was a curse, though. Now Iwao would probably come after him. When Kyo Kodori arrived, Hell would break loose, probably. He really needed a phone, to call Shin. And he also needed to hide in the woods until Shin arrived. Which would definitely be after the Kodoris. It was rude to ask, but he kind of had to. Mr. Hashimoto hadn't really responded, so this was a good opportunity to, even if the likelihood of Mr. Hashimoto giving him his phone was really low. "Hey, uh..." Soutarou began. "Could I borrow your phone? My friend here is really dehydrated, and I needa get him to the hospital. And also get myself home."

There was a brief silence, while Mr. Hashimoto was looking directly at him. He looked annoyed, and offended almost, in a 'how dare you' sort of way. "No." He spat. "You caused this. You gave me this curse. I won't let you fix yourself until you fix your mistakes."

"I am fixin' my mistakes!" Soutarou argued. "I hurt Gaku, and he, we really needa go home!"

"I really need to go home." Mr. Hashimoto responded coldly. The rain grew heavier. "I really need my job back. I really need to be uncursed. But I can't really be any of that, now can i? And it's! All! Your Fault!" The rain was pouring down in sheets now. Its severity seemed to correlate to Mr. Hashimoto's mood. The angrier he was, the angrier it rained. Soutarou wanted to look back up at the cloud, but if he did, he might not be able to see Mr. Hashimoto anymore. That was worrying.

"I'm sorry!" He yelled instead. The rain grew slightly softer. Hopefully Gaku wasn't being absolutely attacked right now. The rain felt kind of pleasant even, an escape from the heat. Or it would have been pleasant if he didn't feel so guilty an awful. This could still be fixed, though. He had to believe that. He would try his hardest to help Mr. Hashimoto, no matter how pointless it was. He would try his hardest to fix his mistakes. He would give everything. That was his policy.

"Sorry won't cut it." Mr. Hashimoto grumbled. But he looked slightly more complacent than before. Not soothed, but privately slightly joyed at Soutarou's guilt. It was the only thing consoling him really, with his life seemingly falling apart at the seams.

"I can help you." Soutarou urged him. "Please just let me use your phone. I can explain to your employer. He won't believe me, but he can see that the wheels are gone. How could that possibly be your fault? There's no excuse for it but magic, is there? He'll have to believe you! He can see the indents in the road where the bottom of the bus scratched it. I won't say I'm sorry anymore, not because I'm not sorry, but because that won't solve anything. I can show you with my words instead. I really can help you, if you just let me. I-"

"Can you get rid of this rain?" Mr. Hashimoto interrupted. "That's the worst thing for people waiting for buses, you know. No one likes the rain like that. No one wants to wait in it; I can never stay employed with this rain following me around everywhere." It was hard to see through the rain, but he looked scared. He was looking for things that were going wrong; that was the kind of person he was. He was just scared, scared of everything but too adult to show his fear easily. He wanted a happy and quiet life but couldn't stop thinking of how impossible that was. Even though he already had it.

Soutarou didn't know how to respond at first. He had been able to recall Detroit Summer pretty easily. He just kinda... recalled it. And it went back inside of him, where it had originally been. "I don't have any real advice." He admitted. "But it's simple. Just, uh, ya know, kinda recall it. You just have to, inside of yourself, recall it. It's not something that can be explained, really."

Mr. Hashimoto ducked his head down, as if trying to find inner peace or something. He was trying to recall his stand, Soutarou realized. But it wasn't really working. It stayed out; it was still fulfilling its purpose or something. That was the most reasonable explanation Soutarou could think of, anyway. He only recalled his stand once its purpose had been fulfilled; maybe that was the only time he could recall it at all? Mr. Hashimoto looked to be struggling with it too, trying to remain calm and suck it in with his zen or whatever, but he was full of turmoil on the inside. He was so worried. He couldn't hide it, even from himself, not even for half a moment to recall his stand. Soutarou found himself looking back at the stand, despite his wishes.

But it wasn't there, fortunately. Thank God. He didn't know exactly how it worked. So maybe that was a bad thing. It could be behind him right now, couldn't it be? But it was a cloud, so it should reasonably stay to the sky. Or else it couldn't create the rain. He turned to Mr. Hashimoto again. He was still there. So what did that mean exactly? Had the stand been recalled? No, it was still raining, so it couldn't have been recalled, could it? He turned to see the stand. It was there this time. If it had had eyes, it would've looked annoyed, almost mad that it was staying outside instead of being recalled. Since it was an extension of Mr. Hashimoto, it wanted to be recalled as badly as Mr. Hashimoto wanted to recall it. But he couldn't, for whatever reason. Was there some inner voice preventing him from doing that?

Mr. Hashimoto wasn't there when Soutarou turned to face him again. So he needed to look at the stand a second time, right? In order to see Mr. Hashimoto again, that was. It seemed to be that if he looked at either Mr. Hashimoto or the stand once, the other would disappear. And if he looked at it a second time, the other would reappear, but when he looked at the other, the first one he looked at would disappear. Or something like that. So he had figured it out. He gave himself a mental pat on the back. It did that, and it caused rain. It wasn't incredibly strong, or at least it wasn't right now. Mr. Hashimoto didn't really know how to use it yet.

Soutarou decided he should probably ask someone else to see if he could borrow their phone. Mr. Hashimoto wasn't going to give his up, even if he did find a way to recall his stand.

"Is it still there?" Mr. Hashimoto asked, turning his head back up.

Soutarou nodded. "Yeah." Why couldn't he tell? It was still raining; of course he hadn't recalled it. Mr. Hashimoto didn't seem to be the type of person to ask that, but Soutarou shrugged it off.

"It isn't raining though." He said slowly, confusion rising in his voice. "And I don't see it anymore. But I just, I feel it's still there."

"It is still there." Soutarou responded, just as confused. "It is still raining."

Mr. Hashimoto shook his head. "No." He looked around him, holding his hands out to feel for raindrops that, to him, weren't coming. "No it really isn't."


End file.
